


Stranger Things Have Happened

by Lightbulb5150



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), RWBY
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:21:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27337837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lightbulb5150/pseuds/Lightbulb5150
Summary: There’s a new kid in Sunnydale. A new kid with no memory, no home, and an uncanny ability to fight monsters he’s never heard of. With magic, brute strength, and a bit of luck, maybe he’ll find a home on the Hellmouth.Or he could just die.
Relationships: Cordelia Chase/Xander Harris, Daniel "Oz" Osbourne/Willow Rosenberg, Qrow Branwen/Original Character(s), Qrow Branwen/Original Female Character(s), Qrow Branwen/Reader, Tara Maclay/Willow Rosenberg, Xander Harris/Anya Jenkins
Kudos: 2





	1. Gingerbread

He walked the silent streets, wind blowing through his hair and clothes, cutting him to the bone in a way he hadn’t felt since he had left the tribe. But it wasn’t the cold that had him captured. He could deal with the cold. No, there was something far deeper at play, something that made his heart hurt to beat.  
Fear. It was fear. He hadn’t been afraid, truly afraid for years, he had pushed it all down inside him just like his semblance, and yet this place, this town... it scared him. He reached for something at his hip, though he didn’t know exactly what. It didn’t matter anyway. There was nothing there. Not that he had been expecting anything... or had he been?  
This was what scared him. Yes, this young man roamed the streets in a haze, brought on by his memories. Or was that lack of memories? Just a few seconds ago he was thinking of how he hadn’t been scared since he had left the tribe, but what tribe? Was he ever a part of one? Was it even a tribe he had just been thinking of, or something else?  
Who was he?  
No, he knew the answer to that. He couldn’t forget that too. He threw his bag to the ground (how long had there been a schoolbag on his shoulders?) and tore through it, discarding books with titles he hardly understood. ‘Kingdoms of Remnant’? ‘Faunus Uprisings and Rebellions’? ‘Dust 101’? The names meant nothing to him. Finally finding what he was looking for, he took a breath, pulling the cap off a black permanent marker and looking down at his hands. Holding the pen in his left, he carefully marked the words as the last shreds of his memories slipped through his fingers.  
‘Qrow Branwen’.  
That was his name. How did he know? From what corner of his mind did that fleeting memory come? He didn’t know. The last of his mind had disappeared, slipping through his fingers like water.  
“You really think Buffy’ll like this? She hasn’t ever really used magic on the job before...” Just as the man felt himself settle into the realization that he truly had no idea who he was, he heard a girl’s voice. He took a step back in the shadows, watching as two girls left a shop on the right side of the street. The sign was a royal blue, with the golden words ‘The Magic Box’ printed overtop in scrawling letters. The girl who had just spoken had brown hair that fell to her shoulders, and carried a bag with the shop’s name on it in her arms, close to her chest. She looked afraid, but not of something as trivial as a failed present.  
“I’m sure she’ll love it, Will. Good protection spells are hard to come by, and she’ll definitely need it in her line of work...” The other girl was speaking now. Her skin was a rich brown, the color of chocolate, and thick, black curls fell from her scalp. She had her arms wrapped around her, pulling her jacket closer to her body.  
“Yeah... yeah, you’re right. I just hope Michael and Amy looked at the book I gave them over lunch... maybe we should’ve started out smaller. Make sure our pseudo-coven can actually cast together before- hey!” The brown-haired magics-user stopped in her tracks and called out. She was looking directly at him, at... he checked the name scrawled on his arm- Qrow. They were both now looking at him, Qrow. “Are you okay?”  
The other girl stepped forward, reaching into her jacket and pulling out some sort of wooden weapon. “She was talking to you, mate. Are you crazy, drunk, or dead?”

He knew he had to answer. He didn’t want her using that... whatever it was, weapon, on him. He looked up at her, who was now standing in a way that meant if he wanted to get to the other girl, Will, she had called her, he would have to go through her and her pointy stick think.  
“...I don’t know.” He answered, his voice raspy like he hadn’t used it in years. He coughed into his hand. It hurt to cough and it hurt to swallow. Some water would probably do him good, but there wasn’t time for that. The girl in front of him grabbed him by the hair and pulled him down to her eye level, seeming to check each side of his face for... something. No, not his face, his neck. She nodded something, letting go. He hadn’t even had the time to protest.  
“Eve, be a bit more gentle, maybe...?” The other girl wondered out loud. The first one, Eve, nodded to herself.  
“Not dead. Got it. So, crazed teen hiding in the street shadows, where can I go to bring you home?” She asked, crossing her arms once again and slipping her stake into the folds of her jacket. He could see a silver cross hanging from her neck, tilted just enough that he couldn’t peg her for a religious type, and her speech was tinted with an accent he couldn’t recall hearing before, not that he’d remember if he had. It took him almost a full minute to register her question.  
“I... I don’t know.” And it was with those few words that Qrow Branwen, if that was indeed his real name, felt his knees buckle and his legs crumple beneath him as he finally laid his head on the ground and fell into a long-awaited slumber.  
“Is he dead?” Will (full name: Willow Rosenberg) asked, running up to the collapsed teen. Eve nudged him with her foot.  
“Don’t think so. He’s just sleeping.” She tilted her head. “Well I can rule out dead, but I can’t quite say crazy’s out of the running yet. We should get him to Giles.”  
And with that, they picked up his books and backpack and headed off to invade a library at almost midnight.  
*  
When he awoke, Qrow Branwen was greeted by a number of things. First it was the smell of mothballs, likely coming from the school-owned library couch he found himself lying on. Then it was the confusing glow and buzz of fluorescent lights, and the faint sound of two teens he vaguely remembered and a man with the same funny accent as one of the girls chatting away nearby.  
“-and so we picked him up and dragged him here. I don’t think he remembers anything.” There was that girl with the strange voice again.  
“Computers are drawing a blank for the name he had written on himself. Qwa-row Branwen. Like he doesn’t exist. And then there’s the books...”  
“Yes, I flipped through a few. The information inside looks like it belongs in some sort of fantasy film, yet the books themselves seem like textbooks, down to the check-in and check-out lines on their front pages. The name on the young man’s arm, Que-row, is listed as the most recent borrower.”  
“But what does it mean? The guy isn’t about to go to monster-hunting Hogwarts, he doesn’t even know who he is.”  
“I have a few theories, but until we can find a definitive answer, it’ll be best to keep Mr. Quah-row under surveillance-”

“I won’t try ‘n do anything. And it’s pronounced Qrow.”  
The three in the room looked up, and Qrow could see who had been talking about him. He recognized the two girls who had come out of the shop, huddled together with a man in a tweed jacket and glasses. If he didn’t know better, the man could’ve been a librarian.  
He finally thought to take a brief glance at his surroundings. Ah. That man was a librarian. After taking a brief moment to wipe down his glasses, the librarian-man nodded. “Ah, I see. My apologies, Q-” The librarian considered for a brief moment trying to  
pronounce Qrow’s name- “Mr. Branwen. It’s good to see you’ve finally awakened... ah, how about you come down here and talk to us.”  
He moved down the stairs to the second floor of the library in a haze. His mind seemed almost sharp enough to realize that he wasn’t functioning at his full potential, but everything he saw seemed half-baked and glazed over. The darker-skinned girl, Eve, took one long, good look at him.  
“Memory erasure.” She decided. “Probably the after-effects of him going through some trans-dimensional portal, judging by the books. It’ll wear off in theory, maybe in a week, maybe in a few years, depending on how extreme the shift was.”  
“How can you tell?” The man asked, putting his glasses back on his nose.  
“He doesn’t know where he’s from...” Willow Rosenberg, or as he remembered her, Will, nodded in agreement with her friend. “That could definitely be a sign that he didn’t even realize he’s been sent through a rift like that.”  
“I think I’d know if I was sent through a rift or whatever...” The man in question declared, putting his hand up in defence. Eve looked at him with a look that said ‘yeah, right’. She reached into a bookbag at her side, his bookbag, and took out a photo. He was there on the far right with a sword in hand, beside three more teens. His mouth was at rest, not smiling like the others, but in his eyes Qrow could see a hint of pride, a bit of mischief, and even a good helping of joy.  
“Who are they?” Eve asked, almost crawling up onto the table to show him the picture, a victorious smirk on her face. He was almost too captivated with the man who looked just like him, the man he used to be, to admit defeat.  
“I don’t know.” He conceded, finally. The girl opened her mouth to retort, but wasn’t given the time before the doors to the library were opened so fast they almost left marks in the wall where they hit. A blonde girl, looking disheveled and angry, stormed in.  
“Giles, we have a new case.” There was a brief pause. “...who the hell are you?”  
*  
“Don’t tell me to calm down!” The shout rang through the library, making the two other  
girls jump. The debrief had been short and to-the-point: two dead kids, find the culprit and kill it. There had been some mix in about Buffy’s mom (Eve had to lean over and whisper the new girl’s name to Qrow), but not enough to really grasp what had truly happened.  
“I-I only meant...” Giles started, a bit taken aback himself at the shout. He had almost fallen off his library ladder, trying to reach a book.  
“They were kids, Giles. Little kids! You don't know what it was like to see them there. My mom can't even talk.” Buffy said, crossing her arms and looking away. The shadow on her face only grew darker at the mention of her mother. Giles left his ladder, putting the books he had gathered down on the middle table.

“I’m sorry. I... I just want to help.” He looked down at the tableful of possible research materials. Unfortunately for the Scooby Gang, a demon that killed children could more or less be summed up with ‘every demon’. Buffy nodded, taking a slow breath to calm down and try to collect herself.  
“I know.” She conceded.  
“Do we know? Uh... it wasn’t a vampire?” The librarian asked as Buffy moved to sit on the table at the mention of Sunnydale’s most popular bad guy. Qrow looked up from looking over Willow’s shoulder at the pictures in one of the demon books.  
“A what?”  
“It’s a whole thing.” Eve waved off his implied question. She had given that response to almost every bizarre thing mentioned, from them talking about locking up some poor kid named Oz for the full moon to him asking why they weren’t getting the authorities involved with the apparent demon chase. Buffy just shook her head.  
“No, there were no marks.” Giles nodded and reached for his tea, apparently satisfied, before Buffy stopped herself. “Wait. I-I mean, there... there was a mark, um, a-a symbol.” She plucked a pen from Willow’s hand and reached over to draw on a paper left of the table, but Giles grabbed her hand before she could make a mark.  
“Oh, uh, 12th century, Papal Encyclical. Write on this.” He passed her a notebook with a blank page open, moving the almost-defaced ancient parchment away from her as she began her quick drawing.  
“It was on their hands. The cops are keeping it quiet, but I got a good look at it.” She pushed her hastily-drawn symbol over for Giles and the girls to see. Willow and Eve seemed to grow visibly uncomfortable, but only Qrow had bothered to pay attention. “There. Find me the thing that uses that symbol and point me at it.”  
The tweed-clad man looked at the picture, humming in response. Buffy turned her head so fast her neck almost snapped.  
“What? Giles, speak.”  
He did just that. “What? Oh, sorry. Um, no, it...” He paused. “I just wonder if we're looking for a thing. The use of a symbol o-on a victim like this suggests a... a ritual murder and a cult sacrifice by a group.” Buffy’s eyes widened.  
“A group of... human beings? Someone with a soul did this?” Her anger was suddenly heightened.  
“Yes... I’m afraid so.” Giles nodded, crouching down to reach a book on the lowest shelf of one of the many bookcases. He was trying to avoid doing anything that might set off the powder keg.  
“Okay. Then while you're looking for the meaning of that symbol thingy, could you also find a loophole in that 'Slayers don't kill people' rule?” The Slayer asked, crossing her arms. Qrow thought about asking maybe what that meant, but figured he wouldn’t get an answer. Giles looked up from his books.  
“Buffy, this is a dreadful crime, I know-” he stood up- “and you have every right to be upset, but... I-I wonder if you're not letting yourself get a shade, uh... more personal because of your mother's involvement.” Buffy almost let out a growl.  
“Oh, it’s completely personal. Giles, find me the people that did this. Please.” From off in the distance, a school bell rang.

*  
“It’ll be good to get another boy in the gang.” Qrow followed behind a boy with dark brown hair as they maneuvered through the line to get their lunch. Qrow hadn’t realized just how hungry he’d been until the Harris kid piled a second school burrito on his plate for the newcomer. “You know, it’s kinda a girl’s club in there. With Buffy and her slaying and Willow with her magic and Eve with her magic and Cordelia with...” He paused and shook his head. “A special power-less guy like myself gets a little uncomfortable sometimes.”  
They sat down at a table right besides a few steps to the upper floor seating, next to some short, spiky red-haired kid. The tension became noticeably thicker. Qrow coughed as Xander let him have the second burrito.  
“I wouldn’t call myself a part of your ‘gang’. I’m just here until I get my mind back. I’m not sure I want to be in with this whole slaying... thing.” The other kid only nodded in response, popping open a fruit cup. The weight at the lunch table shifted and the tension seemed to falter as three others sat down. Qrow recognized Willow and Eve, but the third girl was unfamiliar.  
“Amy.” She said, before he even got a chance to ask. She looked up from her tray when Eve elbowed her. “Oh. Sorry. Magic thing.”  
And just like that, the tension was back. The one kid of the five others there who Qrow had yet to meet cleared his throat.  
“So, Buffy’s birthday is next week.” Xander nodded, apparently thrilled with the new topic.  
“Ooh! Yeah. Good. I’ve been pondering gift options.” Willow looked up from her home-brought sandwich, and her eyes widened.  
“Shh!” She hissed, trying to quiet her friends. Xander frowned.  
“Oh come on, we just got a topic here-!”  
“Hi, Buffy.” Eve greeted, tossing her apple to Qrow, who caught it without looking.  
Between that, Xander’s burrito, and the other various food items donated by the table, he had managed to end up with more food than most of the kids he saw around him.  
“Buffy!” Xander almost shouted, standing up to let the slayer sit down before pulling up a chair himself. “What’s up?”  
“You guys didn’t hear?” She looked at the pair of witches. “You didn’t tell them?” Willow winced.  
“Sorry, got a bit distracted with... you know...” She gestured at Qrow, Eve nodding along.  
“Here what?”  
“A murder. Somebody killed two little kids.” Buffy looked down, crossing her arms. Oz, the punk kid (as Qrow would soon learn), looked up, interested.  
“...huh.” Was all he said.  
“They were like... seven or eight years old. My mom found the bodies during patrol last night.” She continued, looking over them all.  
“Oh my god...” Amy murmured.  
“Kids...?” Qrow asked, his face turning a bit paler than normal as he contemplated the act. Xander blinked.  
“Why was your mom there?” Buffy sighed.  
“More bad. She picked last night, of all nights, for a surprise bonding visit.”

“God... your mom would actually take the time to do that with you?” Willow suddenly butted in, then looked around as Buffy gave her a look. “That wasn’t really the point of the story, was it?”  
“No. The point is, she’s completely wigging.” Qrow blinked at the word he had never heard before, but wasn’t able to open his mouth to ask before a blonde lady who looked too old to be in highschool appeared just behind Buffy.  
“Who’s wigging?” She asked. Everyone at the table jumped. Buffy quickly got to her feet.  
“Um... everyone. You know, ‘cause of what happened.” She quickly stuttered out. Her mother nodded.  
“Oh, it’s so awful. I-I had bad dreams about it all night.”  
Willow cleared her throat, raising her hand slightly in greeting. “Hi, Mrs. Summers...” She stuttered, looking around at the table for help. Joyce jumped, as if she had just noticed they all were there.  
“Oh, hi everybody...” She mumbled absently. Xander greeted her first.  
“Hi.”  
“Hi, Mrs. Summers.” Amy followed his lead. Eve waved. Oz stayed silent. Qrow followed  
Oz.  
“Buffy, have you talked to Mr. Giles yet about who could have done this?” Her mother  
was immediately back on the subject. Buffy nodded.  
“Yeah, he uh... he thinks it might be something ritual. A cult.” She paused, but her  
mother’s mood seemed to only grow worse. “Uh, he’s still looking. In the meantime, we’re gonna add to my patrol, and, y’know, keep an eye out.” Joyce’s eyes widened.  
“A cult. Like witches.”  
Willow coughed. Amy looked away. Qrow opened his mouth to say something, but Eve elbowed him right in the ribs. Joyce looked to Willow.  
“Sorry.” She coughed again. “Too much dairy.” Mrs. Summer’s eyes widened.  
“Oh, I-I-I know you kids think that stuff’s cool. Buffy told me you dabble. And Eve, your mother-”  
“Nope, no dabbling. None at all. Just soul searching and all that... stuff...” She awkwardly looked away. Her lie had been dreadful, but Joyce was too worked up to notice. Willow nodded nervously.  
“Right. Absolutely. That’s me. I’m a dabbler.” She nodded along. Amy put a hand on her shoulder to stop her from trembling.  
“But anyone who could do this isn’t cool.” The lecture continued without missing a beat. “Anybody who could do this has to be a monster. It’s...” Buffy grabbed her mother’s shoulder.  
“You know what? Uh, would you guys excuse us for a little bit?”  
“Uh, n-nice to see you.” She stuttered out, then left.  
Xander was the first to speak. “What a burn. I mean, Buff's mom was just starting to  
accept the whole Slayer thing, and now she's gonna be double-freaked.” He declared, insensibly but truthfully. Willow smiled.  
“Makes me grateful that my mom’s not interested in my extracurricular activities.” Amy smiled slightly, and Eve raised her milk carton up.  
“I’ll drink to that.” She decided, before shaking the carton and realizing it was empty. Willow looked up.

“Oh yeah, that whole awkward anti-witch thing reminded me! Eve, how’s your mom? Any word?” Eve just shrugged, putting down her milk.  
“Got a postcard back two weeks ago... she said the Hatian witch doctors weren’t exactly doing it for her. She said she might try gypsies in Italy if she can manage to book a flight before their solstice.”  
“Hati...?” Willow asked. “I thought she was still in Death Valley. You know, painting the sunsets and hanging with crystal miners? God I wish we could’ve gone...” Eve shook her head.  
“Nothing like Death Valley, California in August. She left once the heatstroke days were over.” Xander opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by the bell.  
“Well, Willow, see you in calc, and see the rest of you after school for child-murder research.” He declared, then walked right off.  
Eve stood up, looking over to Qrow. “Oz, you aren’t going to your next class anyway. Can you take Qrow back to Giles?”  
Oz nodded, and just like that, the group disbanded.  
*  
The school day passed. Qrow had been poked and prodded by Giles, questioned by  
Buffy, and stared at his belongings from every angle, but still nothing seemed to stick in his mind as anything from his past. Eve and Willow finally dragged him away from the library, along with Buffy, out to the streets.  
“We’re going to have to find you a place to live.” Eve decided, squinting in the afternoon sun. “You smell of libraries and someone who hasn’t showered in two days.” Qrow frowned, bringing the inside of his shirt to his nose and making a face.  
“I guess. I could just stay at the school and stuff... use the locker showers.”  
“Think of what you’re implying. The athlete’s foot, Legionnaires’ Disease, being caught by the possibly evil principal...”  
“What?”  
“Eve’s got a point. Putting aside the fungal diseases, there’s no way Principal Snyder isn’t in on this somehow.” Buffy sighed, but was broken out of her trance by shouting. Their walk to Willow’s house had taken them by the city hall, and people could be seen spilling out into the streets. Many of them held high signs with pictures of the two children, with the words ‘Never Again!’ written across them in bold letters. They pushed in and saw Joyce near the front of the crowd.  
Buffy let out a frustrated groan. “This is great. Maybe we could all go partoling together later.” She growled, crossing her arms and looking at her mom. Willow sighed.  
“At least your mom’s making an effort. My mom’s probably...” Willow noticed something. “...standing right in front of me right this second.” The others looked to where she stared, and saw an older woman who looked remarkably like an angrier Willow push through the crowd.  
“Mom?”  
“Willow, I-I didn’t know you were going to be here.” She hardly looked over to the other three. “Oh hi Bunny, Ella, Xander.”  
“Hi.”  
“It’s Eve.”  
“Not Xander.” Were the three replies.  
“Mom, what are you doing here?” Willow asked.

“Oh, well, I read about it in the paper, and what with your dad out of town...” She looked surprised for a moment. “Willow, you cut off your hair! Huh, that’s a new look.” Willow looked a bit sad.  
“Yeah, it’s just a sudden whim I had... in August.” Her mom smiled, missing the point. “I like it.”  
Joyce came over to join them, going to shake Willow’s mom’s hand.  
“Hello Joyce.”  
“Sheila, I’m glad you could come.”  
The librarian, Giles, came as well just after that and began to speak to the other adults in his stuttering, silly-accented voice. Eve looked at the three of them before pulling Qrow down to her level.  
“Not a word of magic, got it? And while you’re at it, don’t talk about our ‘you come from another dimension’ theory.” She muttered to him. He gave a quick nod.  
“Got it...” He whispered back, watching the moms with a suspicious eye.  
The microphone at the front of the stage let out a shriek, and Qrow jumped back to look at it. A man he had never seen before stood there.  
“Oh. Oh, a-are we starting?” Sheila asked herself, pulling her daughter closer. The man up on the lectern smiled and cleared his throat.  
“Hello, everybody.”  
Joyce moved to whisper to the teens. “He’ll do something about this, you’ll see.” “Um... I wanna thank you all for coming in the aftermath of such a tragic crime. Seeing  
you all here proves what a caring community Sunnydale is. Now, sure, we've had our share of misfortunes, but we're a good town with good people, and I know that none of us will rest easy until this horrible murder is solved. With that in mind...” He reached down to pick up one of the many signs, with the children’s faces clear on the board. “I make these words my pledge to you. 'Never again!' Now I ask you to give your attention to the woman who brought us all here tonight, Joyce Summers.”  
Joyce nodded, a determined look in her eye as she climbed up to the podium.  
“Thank you.” She considered her words for a moment. “Mr. Mayor, you are dead wrong.” She finally decided. Murmurs were heard amongst the crowd. “This is not a good town. How many of us have... have lost someone who... who just disappeared? Or, or got skinned? Or suffered neck rupture? And how many of us have been too afraid to speak out? I-I was supposed to lead us in a moment of silence, but... silence is this town's disease. For too long we-we've been plagued by unnatural evils. This isn't our town anymore. It belongs to the monsters and, and the witches and the Slayers.”  
Buffy watched her mother with an open mouth. Willow and Eve exchanged a nervous glance.  
“I say it's time for the grownups to take Sunnydale back. I say we start by finding the people who did this and making them pay!” She shouted into the mic, and the crowd cheered. Eve looked away, clutching at the tilted cross that hung around her neck.  
*  
Somewhere, in a dimly-lit bedroom, four people gathered in a circle around the dreaded symbol painted on the dead children.  
*

A boy with dark hair and makeup closed his locker, sighing to himself. His legs and arms were shaking. Things had gotten bad for people like him. Just as he thought that, a hand slammed into the locker next to his.  
“Watch it.” He mumbled, taking a step away from the now-dented locker.  
“Oh, sorry. Did I make you smudge your eyeliner?”  
Michael only came up to the shoulder of this kid. Roy. Football team, 6 foot, a head good  
for wearing a helmet and not much else. Michael kept those thoughts to himself as he rolled his eyes and shook his head.  
“You gonna put a spell on me?” Roy asked, grinning.  
“Hey, what’s your problem?” A new voice entered the confrontation. A voice he knew well. Roy turned to face Amy, before grabbing Michael by the shirt and slamming him against the lockers.  
“Everyone knows he’s into that voodoo witchcraft. I heard about those kids. People like him...” He looked at Michael once more. “...gotta learn a lesson.” Amy sneered.  
“And what about people like me?” Roy lowered himself down to her level.  
“Get in my face and you’ll find out.”  
“Drop ‘em.”  
Roy looked up and saw the other witch of the campus staring him down, with some sort  
of new cult recruit behind her. He looked to Michael, then dropped him.  
“No problem here.” Eve took a step forward. “I’m walking!” And just like that, he was  
gone. Eve looked to Michael, frowning.  
“Are you okay?” He nodded slightly.  
“Yeah... thanks a lot. See you later.” He waved and was off.  
Amy looked back to the other two and let out a low whistle.  
“You let him out of the house like that?”  
Eve lazily looked over to Qrow, who was looking between the two. She had promised  
him he could have his clothes back as soon as they were out of the wash, but until then, he was wearing her clothes. A skin-tight dark green generic band t-shirt was covered by a silver sweater that had been stretched thin by the amount of times it had been washed, tucked into a pair of black skinny jeans. The sweater’s neckline fell almost to his mid-chest, exposing the shirt and barely showing the words ‘Dingos Ate’.  
“Yes he wears my jeans better than I do.” Eve admitted reaching for her pocket but stopping as a teacher passed by. Qrow just rolled his eyes.  
“Enjoy it while it lasts. I’m not playing dressup in women’s clothes again.” He decided, just as a shrill sound echoed through the halls. The day had started.  
*  
It was fifth period, a time had off by almost all seniors in Sunnydale, and that included Xander, Willow, and Eve. Qrow was there because he honestly didn’t have much else to do. But just as he was contemplating the desperate act of picking up a textbook and actually learning about the world he was stuck in, Buffy came running up.  
“Are Willow and Eve here?” She asked, looking around in an almost desperate manner. Xander stuck his thumb over to the left.  
“Bathroom.” Buffy odded, reaching for their books.  
“Sorry, just need to pick up a book they took from Giles...” Her voice faded out as she found something else and the witches in question finally left the lady's room. Willow greeted her first.

“Hey, Buff. Whatcha looking for? You wanna borrow something?” She asked, a fairly usual Willow smile on her face. Buffy returned it with a glare. She held up the notebook.  
“What is this?” She asked. Willow’s eyes widened, and Eve looked behind them to see if anyone was watching.  
“A doodle. I do doodle. You, too. You do doodle, too.” She stuttered out, not looking Buffy in the eye. Eve put her hand on Willow’s shoulder, in an effort to calm her.  
“This is a witch symbol!” Buffy growled, taking another step towards them. “Not so loud!” Eve hissed. Willow sighed.  
“Okay, yeah, it is.” She conceded.  
“Willow, Eve...” Buffy frowned.  
“What?” They said at the same time, a bit too fast.  
“That symbol was on the murdered children.”  
They heard a locker get slammed shut. Eve looked over her shoulder. “Police.” She  
muttered, picking her books off the table, sliding one labeled ‘Astrology & the Moon Cycle in Magic’ to the bottom of her stack.  
The group rushed to the hallway, only to see dozens of police officers following Principal Snyder around as he unlocked each locker. They dragged a cart of items behind them. An officer pulled a few bulbs of garlic from a locker. Xander groaned.  
“Aw, ma, it’s Nazi Germany and I’ve got Playboys in my locker!”  
“They just took three kids away.” Oz murmured to the witches, whose number became three as Amy joined them.  
“What are they looking for?” Buffy asked.  
“Witch stuff.” Amy replied, her face pale. “They got my spells. I’m supposed to report to Snyder’s office.”  
“Oh my god...” Willow muttered, her hands beginning to shake as an officer came to their group and led Amy away.  
“I have stuff in my locker!” Willow looked around them. “Harmless stuff... Henbane, hellebore, mandrake root...” Eve reached for the cross hanging from her neck.  
“Me too, Will. I’ve got crystals and a few books... something tells me I won’t be able to talk my way out of the necronomicon in my backpack.” Eve nodded in shared nervousness. Xander was the one who broke the tension.  
“Excuse me. Playboys. Can we turn the sympathy this way?” He gestured at himself. Willow looked like she would be sick.  
“Oh, God, my locker’s next. Buffy, I didn’t do anything wrong.” A few bags were pulled from her locker. “The, the symbol is harmless. I used it to make a protection spell for you, for your birthday. With Eve and Michael and Amy. Only, now it's broken, because you know about it, so happy birthday, and please, you have to believe me!” She stuttered out as Principal Snyder came up to her.  
“Ms. Rosenberg. My office.”  
And just like that, there was only one witch left. She was looking considerably more nervous. “What they have is peanuts compared to what’s in my locker... those are some heavy

spells... I was trying to find a way to get memories back, but stuff in there could theoretically raise the dead. I... I need to go.” She stuttered out. Buffy took the books from her stack, including the one with the symbol.  
“Got it. Go, clear out what you can.” And with that, Eve was gone.  
“...we need to get Giles.”  
*  
The library was, unfortunately, in quite a similar state. Books were being loaded into  
boxes, and the librarian was helpless to stop it.  
“Giles.” Buffy half-greeted, half-demanded his attention.  
“They’re confiscating my books.”  
“Giles, we need those books.”  
“Believe me, I’ve tried to tell that to the nice man with the big gun.” He wiped down his  
glasses. Buffy pulled him aside with the rest of the gang.  
“No. There's something about the symbol that we're missing. Willow said she used it in a  
protection spell. It's harmless. Not a big bad. So then why would it turn up in a ritual sacrifice?” She asked, watching the men work.  
“I don’t know. Ordinarily, I would say let’s widen our research.”  
“Using what?” Buffy asked, crossing her arms. “A dictionary and ‘My Friend Flicka’?” Giles took Willow’s book from Buffy’s stack and hid it away in his jacket.  
“This is intolerable. Snyder’s interfered before, but I... I won’t take this from that twisted little homunculus!” He hissed. Qrow looked to Buffy.  
“So he is a demon?”  
“Don’t ask me. I don’t know what that meant.” They heard a door open and Qrow recognized the man with the master key to the lockers walk in, whistling a merry tune and sipping his coffee.  
“I love the smell of desperate librarian in the morning.” He said with a grin. Giles stormed up to him.  
“You get out! And take your marauders with you!” He demanded, pointing at the door. Snyder didn’t budge.  
“Oh my. So fierce.” He walked right past Giles. “I suppose I should hear you out. Just how is, um...” He took a book off the stack a police officer was carting out. “‘Blood Rites and Sacrifices’ appropriate material for a public school library? Chess Club branching out?” He took a sip from his coffee.  
“This is not over.” Giles stated. Snyder grinned.  
“Oh, I should say it’s just beginning. Fight it if you want. Just remember, lift a finger against me, and you’ll have to answer to MOO.” Buffy raised an eyebrow.  
“Answer to MOO? Did that sentence just make some sense that I’m not in on?” Qrow was glad he wasn’t the only one confused.  
“‘Mothers Opposed to the Occult’. A powerful new group.” He took another sip from his mug as he turned his back on them, prepared to leave.  
“And who came up with that lame name?” She shot back at his retreating figure. Snyder looked behind him, taking one last glance at Buffy.  
“That would be the founder/ I believe you call her ‘Mom’.” *

“So they got you too, huh?” Qrow and Eve were sitting on her basement couch. She, as the only one of the Scoobys living alone, was voted in to take the extra roomie, at least until they could contact where he had first come from. They were both in pajamas, Eve in her own and Qrow in Eve’s mom’s. Eve just nodded in response to his question.  
“Yeah. Can’t say I wasn’t expecting it after seeing Willow led off, but I was lucky. Winchester is almost last alphabetically, I had time to get that.” She pointed to an ominous-looking book on the table. A, if Qrow remembered correctly, Necronomicon. “There’s still hope of finding your memories.” She leaned back, as if the day had left her too exhausted to sit up.  
“Yeah... thanks for that.” She nodded slightly, before hearing a pounding on the door. She closed her eyes, preparing to ignore it. Anyone who had problems with her after 9:30 could deal with it themselves. But then she heard the knock again, only this time, more frantic. She opened her eyes, narrowing them slightly before standing up and heading to the door. Qrow waited a few seconds before hearing an ‘Oh my god!’ and the sound of two people headed back downstairs. He stood up in a panic when he saw who it was.  
The kid Eve had defended just that day, Michael, was standing there with a bloodied lip and nose accompanied by a black eye and a slight limp. She forced the poor boy onto the couch.  
“What happened?!” Eve asked, digging through a drawer and pulling out a kit. Michael was out of breath, but tried to explain anyway.  
“I-I was attacked...” He muttered, hand pressed to his nose. His voice was vacant, like he was still in shock.  
“Who did it?” Qrow’s question was to-the-point and direct. The smaller boy wrapped his arms around himself.  
“My dad. His friends. They’re taking people out of their homes. They’re talking about a trial down at City Hall. They got Amy.” Eve’s face hardened, and she shoved the first aid kit into Qrow’s hands.  
“You two, stay here and hide. I have to warn Willow. They’ll be going after her too.” “Yeah, and you! You’re on the list with them.” Michael pointed out. She shook her dead. “I’ll make sure nobody can get down here. Qrow, there’s an emergency box under my  
mom’s bed, only use it as a last resort. You two, stay. ” And just like that, she was gone, leaving a protection spell in her wake.  
“We have to go after her. That mob... it’s all the adults in town. They’ll kill her.” Qrow looked back at Michael.  
“...stay here.” He stated, then headed for Eve’s mom’s room.  
*  
The sliding door of Willow’s bedroom was forced open, causing the girl to shriek and for  
another, dark-skinned one to cover her mouth.  
“Shh! Quiet! We need to get you out of here!” Eve hissed, removing her hand from  
Willow’s mouth. “What? Why?  
“It’s the Salem Witch Trials all over again. There’s a whole mob out there taking witches from their homes. Michael’s holled up in my basement with Qrow, but they already got Amy. Now come on!-”

There was a knock at the door. Willow hardly had time to look up from Eve before it was kicked in. Sheila was there, alone with dozens of other adults.  
“Willow, get your coat. And Eve, I see you’re here as well.” She raised up a sign of the two children. “Good. It saves us the trouble of going to your house.”  
*  
Xander and Oz burst into the Winchester home without even bothering to knock. The door was already unlocked and ajar. The coffee table next to it was smashed.  
“Looks like we’re too late...” Xander muttered, kneeling by the coffee table before calling for Eve, Qrow, anyone, desperate for a response. Oz frowned.  
“Not yet, maybe.” He pointed to a strangely empty section of the wall between the living room and kitchen.  
“Didn’t Eve used to have a basement door there...?  
Michael shivered as he heard two sets of footsteps clamber down the stairs, but relaxed when he heard the familiar voices. He climbed out from under the basement pull-out bed and was meant with a frantic Xander and a hysterical (though it was hard to tell) Oz.  
“Where are the other two? Eve and Qrow?” Michael shook his head.  
“Eve went to warn Willow. Qrow went after her. He took the emergency kit.” He pointed to an empty box. Oz saw a glimmer from the corner of his eye and took a closer look, recognizing it immediately. Eve’s cross.  
“Oh no...”  
*  
In the Sunnydale City Hall, four stakes were set up upon a pile of books that had been  
deemed unsuitable. Two of the girls were already awake, while the two others were still under. All around them, orange flames grew from torches, prepared to force the witches to go the way of their ancestors.  
“Hold still. Be a good girl.” Sheila whispered to her daughter. Willow shook her head, the fear and heat beginning to force tears from her eyes.  
“No! Why are you doing this to me? Mom?”  
“There’s no cure but the fire.” Willow looked to Eve, her head still steadily dripping crimson from where someone from the angry mob had smashed her with a porcelain ‘Precious Moments’ doll. She just let out a small groan from the heat and pain. Amy began to pull at her ropes.  
“Buffy! Wake up!”  
“This is crazy, Mom!” Willow tried to reach her mother again, but her efforts were still in vain. Amy continued to scream.  
“Buffy! Buffy!”  
*  
“So Qrow has the emergency kit.”  
“Yes.”  
“Which contained a...?”  
“No idea. I’ve gone to her place a lot with Willow, but this is the first I’ve heard of it.  
Probably something powerful and magic and not for Qrow.” The first few rooms of city hall were suspiciously empty, up until they reached the doors to the main meeting area.  
“...or a gun.”

Qrow had managed to fight his way through the sparsely-inhabited halls so far, but this could prove to be a problem. In front of him stood four men, one of which he recognized as Michael’s father. They were between him and the door, and the scent of smoke was getting more prominent.  
They snarled at him, and before he even knew it Xander and Oz were beside him. Oz put his hand on Qrow’s right arm which held the gun.  
“What’s with the grim? We’re here to join you guys.” Xander tried to joke. The group of three slowly approached the adults, who eyed them suspiciously. “No, really. Why should you guys have all the fun? We wanna be part of the hate.”  
“Just so we’re clear, you guys know you’re nuts, right?” Oz offered. The men ran to attack them, and the teens took off down the hall.  
“I liked my plan better!” Qrow announced.  
*  
From inside the room, Buffy began to groan.  
“Buffy!” Willow shouted. Buffy didn’t respond, trying to pull against the ropes that bound  
her. Her own mother walked up with a grim smile on her face. “Good morning, sleepyhead.”  
“Mom, you don’t want this.” Buffy begged.  
“Since when does it matter what I want?” Her mom snapped. “I wanted a happy, normal daughter. Instead, I got a Slayer.” Willow’s mom came to stand by Joyce, holding a flaming stick.  
“Torch.” Was all she said, handing it to Joyce, who gave her best PTA smile. “Thanks. This has been so trying. You’ve been such a champ.”  
“Oh, you too, Joyce.” Sheila smiled back.  
“We should stay close, have lunch.”  
“Oh, I’d like that. How nice.”  
And with that, Joyce leaned down to set fire to the books.  
“Oh, you can’t be serious!” Amy yelled, struggling against the rope even more. “Mom, don’t!”  
The books were engulfed in a sudden flame as Joyce and dozens of other parents  
touched their torches to the pile surrounding the girls. Eve’s eyes suddenly flared open.  
“Fire. That’s a fire. Willow, what’s going on?” She shouted above the cheers. Willow was  
hardly in a position to explain, but did her best.  
“It’s a witch trial! They’re trying to kill us!” She looked at the flames crawling closer. Buffy  
threw her head back to look at the girls.  
“Can’t you do something? Something magic?”  
Eve looked down at herself, still clad in pajamas. Pajamas and no cross.  
“I can’t! My talisman isn’t here, and we can’t risk a rogue freezing spell!” Amy looked  
around in a panic, before she seemed to make up her mind.  
“Alright. You wanna fry a witch? I’ll give you a witch! Goddess Hecate, work thy will!” She  
chanted. Buffy watched.  
“Uh oh.” She mumbled.  
“Amy, stop!” Willow pleaded.

Amy’s eyes turned pitch black, the energy of a spell she shouldn’t have begun swirling around her.  
“Before me, let the unclean crawl!” She continued. The magic around Amy grew stronger, lashing out in every direction, before finally coming to a head as she was engulfed in flames. People from the crowd screamed as they watched in amazement, while the other three girls craned their necks to see what had happened to her. Amy’s clothes were in a pile on the ground, and the ropes that had once held her were limp.  
From under the pile, a rat came running. It cut through the shrieking crowd before disappearing from the room.  
“She couldn’t do us first?” Buffy muttered. Eve shuddered.  
“Those spells are risky... losing your humanity like that.” She whispered back. Willow nervously cleared her throat and looked back at the crowd.  
“You’ve seen what we can do!” She shouted desperately. “Another step and you will all feel my power!” She yelled, the fire steadily creeping closer.  
“What are you gonna do, float a pencil at ‘em?” Buffy whispered.  
“It’s a really big power!” Eve went along with Willow’s scheme. The people stared at them in horror.  
“Yes!” Buffy agreed. “You will all be turned into vermin! And some of you will be fish! Yeah, you in the back will be fish!” She nodded to someone in the back who had been staring at her.  
From the crowd, a soft whisper of children’s voices could be heard.  
*  
In a hallway closer to the girls than the group had assumed, three boys were desperately  
pulling at door knobs. It was no use, they were all locked.  
“We gotta get inside.” Oz declared. Xander nodded in agreement. Qrow looked between  
the two of them.  
“Shouldn’t they be okay? Eve and Willow and Amy are all witches, they should be able to  
deal with this no problem.” He stated. Xander shook his head.  
“It doesn’t work like that. Willow’s new to the whole magic thing, and Amy is  
unpredictable. And Eve doesn’t have this.” He took a familiar silver chain from his pocket. “Her cross?”  
“Her talisman.” Oz corrected. “It’s a thing to keep her magic from getting out of hand. Willow says she won’t risk casting without it, something about a power from her mom. I don’t know... it’s like they’re speaking some other language when they talk about this stuff.”  
“Tell me about it.” Xander muttered. From the backs of their minds, they heard a cry. “No! Oh god, help!” The scream came. Oz perked up.  
“Will?” He asked.  
“She’s right above us.” Qrow pointed to a vent on the wall. Oz jumped up onto the bench  
and pulled at the covering a few times before it finally came loose. He climbed in without a moment’s hesitation, and the other two followed.  
*  
As the fires grew higher, the voices of children grew louder. “They hurt us.”  
“Burn them.”

Buffy looked to her mom desperately for one final plea. “Mom, dead people are talking to you! Do the math!” Joyce shook her head.  
“I’m sorry, Buffy.” The flames grew closer and closer to the girls.  
“Mom, look at me! You love me! You’re not gonna be able to live with yourself if you do this!” Her mother’s face hardened.  
“You earned this. You toyed with unnatural forces. What kind of a mother would I be if I didn’t punish you?”  
“Buffy, I can’t take it! It’s too hot!” Willow yelled. Eve looked on, helpless.  
“Willow, don’t worry! Don’t worry, it’ll be fine!” There wasn’t much to base this on.  
“I’m sorry, Will. If it wasn’t for me, none of this would’ve happened.” Buffy responded to  
the cry. The door to the main hallway swung open, and two figures could be seen. Giles and the fashionista.  
Giles pointed Cordelia to a fire hose in the corner. She nodded to him and smashed the glass with her elbow, being careful to block her face, before pulling out the hose. The crash got the crowd’s attention.  
“Stop them!” Joyce cried out, the rest of the crowd following her lead. They weren’t able to get far, however. Turns out that despite being basically possessed, the rioters weren’t immune to a pressure hose. Giles began muttering in German, but his pronunciation was so bad it was hard to tell his German from his Swedish.  
“You like that, huh? How about some more?” Cordelia yelled, apparently enchanted with her newfound power. But despite her best efforts, the floor was getting more wet than the flames. In fact, they only seemed to grow closer.  
“I’m on fire!” Willow screamed as the flames reached the hem of her dress. Eve looked over, helpless as her pajama pants began to smoke.  
“Cordelia, put out the fire!” Buffy demanded. Cordelia gave a semi-apologetic ‘Oh, right’ before redirecting the hose.  
*  
Somewhere in the city hall vents, three boys were thoroughly lost.  
*  
The flames were gone and Cordelia wrestled with the hose to shut down the water. The  
two children slowly made their way to Giles as he frantically flipped through his book, trying to find his page again as he lifted a vial.  
“Ihr Goetter, ruft Euch an! Verbergt Euch nicht hinter falschen Gesichtern!” He declared, smashing the bottle down at the children’s feet.  
The potion in the bottle began to steam around them, and the boy and girl looked to each other and embraced before their bodies began to mold into one, singular demon standing over seven feet tall. Its ears were pointed and sharp fangs came from his lower jaw, protruding straight from its red skin. A mat of tangled hair fell down its back.  
The protesters ran from the room, screaming, but Buffy didn’t have time to feel bad for the possible mental scars.  
“O-Oh god...” Joyce called, before Sheila dragged her away. The demon watched her go.  
“Protect us! Kill the bad girls!” It screamed, baring its teeth. Buffy watched as her mom escaped.

“You know what? Not as convincing in that outfit.” She decided. The demon looked to her and the witches, stalking towards them with an obvious intent. Buffy began struggling once again. The ropes didn’t break, but the stake she was tied to did. The weight forced Buffy to bend over, but she rushed the demon anyway, the point of her stake impaling it right through the neck. Buffy was still unable to stand up straight.  
“Did I get it?” She looked around at the awestruck teens and librarian. “Did I get it?” She repeated the question.  
The ceiling came crashing down in response, creating a pile of teenage boys and drywall atop the already-existing pile of books. Oz sat up first and looked between the girls, buffy, and the dead demon. He had landed on top.  
“...we’re here to save you.”  
*  
Several candles were burning in Willow’s room, and the girl herself was crushing some  
leaves into powder. Eve sat beside her, a book in her hands and a rat in her lap. Qrow sat on the bed, reading over her shoulder.  
“You’re sure your mom doesn’t mind us doing this in the house?” Eve asked, picking up the animal and watching it run over her hand.  
“She doesn’t know.” Willow admitted, sheepishly.  
“Business as usual?”  
“Mm, sort of. She’s doing that ‘selective memory’ thing your mom used to be so good at.”  
She put down the mortar and pestle, looking at the book and checking her recipe. Qrow looked up.  
“She forgot everything?”  
“No.” Willow responded ruefully. “She remembered that part where I said I was dating a musician.” She sprinkles some of the herbs she’d crushed onto a silver ceremonial plate Eve had brought over. “Oz has to come for dinner next week. So that’s sort of like taking an interest.” Eve sighed, putting the book down.  
“Okay, should we try this again?” Qrow noticed his que and handed Eve a match and her cross, or talisman, as Oz had called it.  
“Let’s do it.” Willow nodded. “I think we got the mix right this time.” Eve lit the match and dropped it on the plate, then held her necklace in the fire.  
“Diana, Hecate, I hereby license thee to depart. Goddess of creatures great and small, I conjure thee to withdraw.” Willow chanted. The three were still for a few moments, waiting. Eve sighed.  
“Maybe we should get her one of those wheel things.”  
*  
“So they’re really not going to remember any of it?” Qrow asked, setting down a  
newspaper. The headline read ‘Book Fair Up In Flames at City Hall’. Eve looked up from the items in her hands. She had been clearing the guest room of potentially dangerous magical items. It had been a while since the Winchesters had guests.  
“Nope, none of it. But that’s pretty par for the course. Evil comes, we beat up evil ‘cause it’s what we do, and the town rationalizes however it can. Neck ruptures, earthquakes,” she picked up the newspaper, “on-fire book fairs...”  
“Neck ruptures?” Qrow asked.

“Vampires.”  
“Ah.”  
“Well the fact is, Qrow Branwen, that Sunnydale is built on the Hellmouth, source of all  
evil. We’re a friendly, small suburb with 12 gothic cemeteries, over 40 churches, and more abandoned churches than we know what to do with.” She sat beside him on the bed, and tossed him something that he easily caught. “The only people who get stuck here are the bad, the evil, and the unlucky. And since you’re holding that without hissing in pain, I’ll mark you for the third option.” He opened his palm and saw a small golden cross on a chain.  
“Might wanna keep that on you. Vampires, you know.”  
“The vampires weren’t a joke?” He looked down at her and she laughed, falling backwards onto the bed.  
“Oh, you have no idea. Welcome to Sunnydale.” 


	2. Helpless

_Bang. Bang. Bang._  
“Qrow, wake up, we need to get going! I’m coming in!” That was all the introduction Eve gave before opening up the door to her guest bedroom. Qrow blinked at her, mildly confused. He was still in his (technically Xander’s) pajamas, in his (technically Eve’s guest bedroom’s) bed. She gave him an unimpressed look, drawing open the curtains and watching the single Sunnydale school bus pass right by her house.  
“We’re going to be late.” She declared, looking back at him.  
*  
“So we’re going to be late, but we’re just sitting here? In your car?”  
“No. We’re already late. We’re waiting for first period to be over to make sneaking in  
through the door in the library easier without Giles being all angry and British at us.” She leaned back in her chair. It was a nice car, a 1996 Beetle with a convertible roof and a bright red exterior. You could spot the thing from a mile away.  
“Aren’t you British?” Qrow asked, his golden cross around his neck. He was still wearing her jeans, though she wasn’t allowing him access to any more of her shirts. He had stretched out her ‘Dingoes Ate My Baby’ shirt, and she wasn’t about to let him ruin a shirt she actually liked, no offense Oz. Xander’s old shirts would have to do. Qrow had never even heard of ‘Star Trek’  
“A fair point.” She admitted, before checking her car’s radio clock. “And there’s our cue. First bell has just rung, time to act like we were there the whole time.  
Qrow didn’t technically go to their school, there was no way to transfer him in so late in the year, but he did find himself spending a lot more time there than he otherwise would’ve. Giles was constantly trying new things to contact wherever he had come from, though so far none of it had worked. Qrow was content with sitting in the backs of classrooms. No muss, no fuss, no obligation to go every day or do the homework.  
Eve knocked twice on the door leading to the library, and Buffy hoisted it open just seconds after. A well-practiced maneuver, no doubt.  
“Hey, good to see you, Buffy. How’s your day been?” Qrow just waved in greeting.  
“Well my powers have been failing me and the whole ‘chosen one’ thing is up in the air right now, but other than that it’s been alright.”  
“What-?”  
Eve nodded. “Well we’d better get going. Snyder’s been watching me, and I don’t like a middle-aged man stopping me in the halls and asking where I was in Geography.” She admitted. It wasn’t like Eve wasn’t a good student, it was... well... basically that. She kept her C average and didn’t try for anything more.  
Eve opened the doors to the library and immediately heard the call of ‘Miss Winchester!’. She looked behind her.  
“Gotta run!” And just like that she took off into the sea of kids in similar situations.  
“...alright, I’ll admit it. It wouldn’t surprise me if he turns out to be evil.” Qrow looked behind him to Buffy, who had picked up another knife as Giles entered the room. She swung the knife back so fast it almost hit him.  
“Bit early in the day.” He stated, sipping his tea and using a finger to point the reeled-back knife away from him.

“Giles, something’s wrong.” Buffy stated, getting out of her stance and looking down at the knife in her hand. Giles froze.  
“Wrong?”  
It was around that time that Giles and Qrow both noticed the other side of the room. It was littered with knives, and more than that, they were sloppy. In fact, most of them hadn’t hit the target pinned there, causing more than a couple gouges in bookshelves.  
“Ah. Perhaps you shouldn’t-” Buffy threw another knife, this one almost hitting Qrow and causing him to slide from the table he was leaning on and fall to the floor- “do that anymore.” Giles put down his briefcase and took his glasses off his face.  
“On top of that, I got a bad case of the dizzies last night and almost let a vamp stake me. With my own stake!” Giles nodded as Buffy threw another knife. Qrow was smart enough to get out of the way as the knife went wild. “I’m way off my game. My game’s left the country. It’s in Italy with Eve’s mom. Giles, what is going on here?” Giles sat down.  
“Well perhaps you’ve got a bad flu bug or something.” He suggested.  
“No.” Buffy stated. “No, not sick. I can’t get sick. My dad’s coming to take me to the ice show. We do it every year for my birthday. If I cancel, it’s gonna break his heart.” She looked down at her lap. Giles sighed.  
“Well, just, um... take it easy for forty-eight hours. You know, forego patrolling until you feel yourself again.” He decided, picking up a book. Buffy took a few more knives from the table, and Qrow immediately prepared to duck.  
“No. No, I just need to spend a little more time training.” She threw another knife, this one going wild and causing the unmistakable sound of a shattered desk lamp. Buffy winced. Giles didn't react, but it was obvious he’d heard it.  
“I’m gone!” She announced, and turned to leave as fast as she could.  
“Thank you!” Giles called back, going to his office without even turning to look at the damage.  
*  
The Scooby Gang had decided to eat outside, celebrating the cool breezes that came with January in California. Eve had invited Qrow to join, and Willow (perhaps tired of Xander stealing her food after giving his to Qrow) had been nice enough to pack him a lunch. Eve was half-asleep on the wooden bench and Qrow was tempted to join her.  
“An ice show?” Xander asked. “A show performed on ice? And how old are we again?” Willow jumped in with her own story.  
“I went to Snoopy On Ice when I was little. My dad took me backstage and I got so scared I threw up on Woodstock.” She admitted to that last part with a nervous smile.  
“What the hell is a Woodstock...?” Qrow asked, more to himself than anything. Eve scribbled ‘Watch Peanuts with Qrow’ down on her wrist as none of the others responded.  
“Look, I know you guys think it's just a big, dumb, girly thing, but it's not. I mean, a lot of those skaters are Olympic medal winners. And every year my dad buys me cotton candy and one of those souvenir programs that has all the pictures, and okay, it's a big, dumb, girly thing, but I love it.” Buffy smiled, obviously excited. Oz nodded.  
“It’s not so girly. Ice is cool... it’s like water, but it’s not.” Willow nodded.

“I think it’s sweet you and your dad have a tradition.” She decided. “Especially that he’s not around so much. Ixnay on the caramel corn, though, if you go backstage.” Buffy seemed to take the mental note.  
“We’re still talking party, right?” Xander asked. “I mean, some of us like to relish celebrating in the birth of the Buff.”  
“Plus your mom makes good food.” Eve added. Buffy shook her head.  
“I dunno. I think it might be time to put a moratorium on parties in my honor. They tend to go badly. Monsters crash. People die.” Qrow looked up.  
“What-?” Eve elbowed him in the side.  
“But eighteen is a big one, Buffy!” Willow smiled. “You can vote now! You can be drafted!”  
“You can vote not to be drafted.” Eve added, and Willow nodded.  
“See?”  
“I think I’ll choose to celebrate this one with quiet reflection.” Buffy decided. Xander cut  
her off before the self-loathing could kick in.  
“Where is it written that quiet reflection can't be combined with cake and funny hats?” He  
asked. The conversation didn’t seem to move on from that. The witches, the werewolf (Qrow still didn’t know what that meant), and Xander didn’t falter, and neither did the Slayer. Soon Buffy decided she had missed enough of class and left.  
“Oh, Qrow, that reminds me!” Willow looked up. Qrow was knocked out of his almost-sleep.  
“Huh?”  
“Giles said you found something in your bag, an identification tag from a school and stuff. What’s your birthday?” Qrow nodded, digging through his pocket. From Eve’s jeans came a small object, about the size and shape of a credit card. A picture of him was there, not smiling, wearing some sort of uniform. Eve looked over his shoulder.  
“Qrow T. Brawson. Team S-T-R-Q. Birthday: October 13, 1978. Weapon: Harbinger? You have a weapon?” Eve looked at him. “Since when?” Willow craned her neck to see.  
“Weapon? So your school had weapons? Why?” She asked. Qrow shrugged.  
“You’re asking the wrong person.”  
*  
Willow and Eve were walking down the stairs, headed for the courtyard. Qrow followed  
just behind them, watching the students pass the group by.  
“So how’s it going with Amy the rat? Sorry I haven’t been able to help recently, I have a  
new student in ‘Acting Like a Functioning Human’ class.” She looked back at Qrow, who was about to launch into righteous indignation.  
“What, teaching him the States and Capitals and stuff?”  
“Even better. Watching the Charlie Brown Christmas Special.” She leaned back. “But anyways, Amy. How’s that going?”  
“Good!” Willow chirped. “She loves her new exercise wheel. She runs around, her nose wiggles...” Qrow looked mildly confused.  
“But you’re still trying to turn her back though, right...?” Willow’s face fell.  
“Well yeah. Still working on that one. But I just got her the cutest little bell...” Eve looked up.

“Hey, looks like Buffy’s about to deal with Cordy’s newest catch.” She pointed, drawing their attention to the group just as Buffy got pushed down and Cordelia of all people forced the kid to back off. Willow rushed to Buffy’s side.  
“Are you okay?” She asked, feeling Buffy’s head. Buffy just stared, confused.  
*  
The gang were all stuck in the library. A faint drizzle was coming down outside, which  
more-or-less reflected their mood. Staying after school to do homework was usually pretty low on the list of fun things to do anyway, and now they were all searching for some mysterious curse on Salyers. Speaking of...  
“Aha!” Willow shouted. “A curse on Slayers!” Eve leaned over to look at the computer. Buffy immediately stood up. Eve squinted.  
“Lawyers, Will. It’s Lawyers.” Willow frowned and made a small hum in disappointment. Xander thought to himself.  
“You know, maybe we're on the wrong track with the whole spell, curse and whammy thing. Maybe what we should be looking for is something like, um...” He cleared his throat. “Slayer kryptonite.”  
“Faulty metaphor. Kryptonite kills.” Oz interjected.  
“You're assuming I meant the green kryptonite. I was referring, of course, to the red kryptonite, which drains Superman of his powers.” Xander amended. Oz was only silent for a moment.  
“Wrong. The gold kryptonite's the power-sucker. The red kryptonite mutates Superman into some sort of weird...” He was cut off by Buffy.  
“Guys? Reality?” She asked, sounding a bit desperate as she climbed the stairs. Willow frowned and went after her. Qrow looked between the boys and Eve.  
“Who the hell is Superman and why is he not helping us now?” He asked. Oz looked away. Xander covered his mouth to stifle a laugh. Eve leaned over to him.  
“Superman’s a comic book character. Fictional.”  
*  
Eve hung up her house phone, taking a shaky breath. Qrow looked over at her from the  
basement couch they had both been sitting on  
“What is it?” Eve looked back at him.  
“Willow called. She was just on the phone with Buffy. Giles did something to her, some  
kind of test. He was the one taking away her powers, she’s apparently really shaken up about it.” She sat down beside her new housemate.  
“But why...? He’s the one assigned to help her when stuff like this happens.” Eve nodded slightly.  
“Yeah, but this was apparently some sort of ‘rite of passage’ nonsense. She must feel awful, Giles was like a father to her...” She shuddered. “I think the test must’ve been canceled, now that she knows about it.” She leaned back, looking up. The entire ceiling of her basement was painted thick and black, with a star map speckling the dark with tiny dots of white, each in its right place in the universe.  
“Are you okay? You seem pretty... not.” He hesitantly decided to start the conversation. Eve shrugged.

“I’m not sure. I feel terrible for Buffy, but she’s not really a good friend of mine. I hang out with her because I hang out with Willow, and she’s one of the few people I know who realized something was up with Sunnydale as soon as they showed up.”  
“You seem more out of it than ‘concerned for a friend of a friend’.”  
“Yeah... you’ve got me there.”  
“Then, uh... wanna talk about it...?” Eve looked back at him, before putting her feet up  
on the coffee table. “Nope.”  
He let out a sigh of relief. Thank god, he was not prepared to deal with anything like that. *  
Eve hung up the phone once more. “Come on, we’re going.” She declared, reaching for  
her boots. Qrow looked up from the cartoon he had been engrossed in. “Where?”  
“Buffy’s house. Buffy called Willow, Willow called me. Buffy’s about to tell the Watcher Council where to stick it. We’re going for moral support.”  
“Why am I going? Doesn’t this sort of thing usually fall under ‘friend of a friend’ category?”  
“You’re Buffy’s friend of a friend too.” Qrow raised an eyebrow. “And I don’t want you alone in my house.”  
“...I’ll get my coat.”  
“It’s my coat.”  
*  
The lights in the Summers house were on that night. The kitchen island was packed, the  
three stools being unable to hold the more-than-three-ness of their group. Buffy and Xander were making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and Willow had brought lemonade Kool-Aid mix  
“So Qrow, I don;t believe we’ve formally met.” The teen was almost startled out of his seat by the presence of Buffy’s mom behind him.  
“No, uh, we did. Sorta. That, uh... that time you tried to burn Eve and Willow and Buffy alive... I was there for that.” He scratched the back of his neck. Eve just sighed, rubbing her forehead.  
“Oh... um, well, it’s nice to meet you while not under demonic influence.”  
“I can’t believe Giles was fired. How could Giles get fired?” That random outburst was caused by Willow, putting the pitcher of lemonade on the table. She had been basically repeating herself ever since Buffy broke the news.  
“So, how did you manage to kill Kralik?” Oz asked. Joyce smiled.  
“Oh, she was very clever.” Buffy raised her eyebrows. “Uh, you go ahead and tell it, dear. You tell it better.  
Buffy sighed.  
“Now, now when you say ‘fired’, do you mean ‘fired’?”  
“With a capital F. Not really, but yeah.” Buffy nodded.  
“You;re not cruising past that concept any time soon, are you?” Xander asked. Willow  
shook her head.  
“Well it's just... I mean, he’s been fired! He’s... he’s unemployed, he’s between jobs. ”

“Giles isn’t going anywhere, Will. He’s still librarian.” Eve offered, pouring a glass for herself.  
“Yeah, he’s got people to be angry and British at.” Qrow followed suit, though his comment seemed to have less effect. Buffy shook her head.  
“We have Eve for that.”  
“Hey-!” Willow nodded affirmably.  
“Okay, but I’m writing an angry letter.” She decided. Eve looked up from her killer glare in  
Buffy’s direction.  
“Think the Watcher Council has an HR department?”  
“You know, nothing's really gonna change. The important thing is that I kept up my  
special birthday tradition of gut-wrenching misery and horror.” Buffy declared.  
“Bright side to everything.” Oz looked up.  
“Lucky.” Qrow decided, though something in the back of his mind felt off when he said  
that word. Buffy grabbed a new jar of peanut butter and tried to open it, sighing.  
“Just feel better when I get my strength back.” Xander stretched his arm out towards her. “Give you a hand with that, little lady?” Buffy passed him the jar with a solid eye-roll. “You;re loving this far too much.”  
“Admit it.” He said, trying to twist the jar. “Sometimes you just need a big strong man.”  
He smiled. A couple awkward minutes passed. Xander cleared his throat and gave a nervous chuckle.  
“Eve, Qrow, gimme a hand?”


	3. The Zeppo

“What exactly is all this stuff?” Qrow asked, putting a bag down on the glass counter of the Magic Box. Eve had taken him out with her on her errand run.  
“Spell parts. Mostly harmless stuff, herbs and crystals, things like that, but I do have a mummy hand on backorder. You’d be surprised how high the demand is!” She watched each item as the cashier added up her total, before tapping on the counter.  
“Can I see the lost and found box?” The old lady behind the counter nodded, stopping her count and going to the back room.  
“Lost an earring?” Qrow asked, resting his elbow on a bed of her thick curls. She caught his wrist.  
“Don’t touch the hair. And no, but I always check it just in case. You’d be shocked how many cursed rings and evil artifacts get left here.” She watched the rat’s eyes float around in their juices in one of the many jars on the counter as the lady came back with the cardboard box. She dropped it in front of them. It sounded far heavier than a box of left gloves and dangerous things should’ve been.  
“...that’s a sword.” Eve was right. In the box rested a blade longer than her arm and wider than most medieval swords Buffy kept in her weapons box. Just above the hilt was a clockwork mechanism that remained still. “Where, uh... where did you find this?”  
“In the streets outside, about a month ago. The thing was just there, for anyone to trip on!” The lady complained. Qrow stared at the blade.  
“That’s my sword.” He muttered.  
“What?” Eve looked up at him.  
“That’s my sword. That’s Harbinger.” Eve blinked, sighed, then looked at the lady. “We’re taking the sword.”  
*  
The Scoobies were in a cave filled with a thick mist, making sight almost impossible. The  
sound of a demon crawling through the fog echoed in their ears as it searched for the one who had already killed two of its kind. Another Slayer, a different Slayer, stoof in an alcove, watching the demon’s movements.  
Buffy stood on a ledge above the fog, watching anxiously. Giles stood by her in a corner, waiting. A teen with a large sword was with him, prepared to protect the librarian.  
Footsteps could be heard, and the faint glow of a candle penetrated the fog. Two voices could be heard, completing a low chant in unison.  
“Obscurate nos non diutius.”  
The candle was blown out.  
A sudden wind blew the mist from the cave, and their foe was clearly visible. Violently  
sharp teeth and pointed ears could be seen, along with dozens of horns. To Qrow, it looked like just another demon. But they wouldn’t all be there helping Buffy if this was just another demon.  
The Slayer in question jumped from the ledge and tackled the demon to the ground, Giles and Qrow running from their own places to pin down an arm. Buffy grabbed the other as they hoisted the demon to its feet. It managed to wrap an arm around Giles’s shoulder and throw him across the cave, prompting Qrow to stab Harbinger through its hand to keep it in place.  
“Now!” Buffy screamed.

The second Slayer marched up, a sword in each hand. Before the demon could react, it was impaled. Giles stood up as she removed the blade from its heart. Buffy dropped the arm and Qrow pulled his own sword from the hand and the wall, letting the demon fall limp.  
“I think that was the last.” Giles sighed, fixing his glasses. Willow and Eve came from the cave’s entrance, Willow looking shaky but smiling and Eve looking mildly relieved.  
“You okay?” One witch said to the other. The shaky one nodded, breathing hard. “Yeah, I’m fine. Th-the shaking is, is a side effect of fear.” She stuttered out.  
“Well, if it wasn’t for that clouding spell...” Buffy added to Eve’s encouragement. Willow  
smiled.  
“Yeah, it went good!” She glanced at the candle. “Nothing melted like last time...”  
“In all fairness, that might have been me.” Eve admitted, clutching the cross around her  
neck. “You know, full moon’s coming up, witch powers get stronger... this old thing can only take so much.” Buffy nodded.  
“These babes were wicked rowdy. What’s their deal?” The brunette Slayer asked. Qrow went to join Eve. He didn’t exactly feel safe around the second Slayer. Not only because she wasaproductofBuffy’sactualdeath, sheseemedtobeabitofaloosecannon.Herestedhis sword on his shoulder and watched wearily.  
“I wish I knew.” Giles sighed, crouching down to get a better look at the demon and talking Qrow into helping him roll it over. “Most of my sources have dried up since the, uh... Council has relieved me of my duties. I was aware there was a nest here, but quite frankly, I expected it to be vampires. These... these are new.”  
“And improved.” Buffy muttered, frowning. Giles stood up, dusting himself off.  
“Yes. I’m sorry. I should’ve had you better prepared, and I should never have allowed Willow or Eve or Qrow or...” He looked around. Someone was missing. They heard a rustle from a pile of garbage and Qrow immediately prepared to stab something.  
“I’m good. We’re fine.” Zander panted, clearly out of breath as he pulled himself from the pile. “Just a bit dirty.” He gave two thumbs up. “Good show, everyone. Just great. I think we have a hit.”  
“Are you okay?” Willow asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. He winced.  
“Tip-top, really.” He groaned. “If anyone sees my spine laying around, just try not to step on it.”  
“Xander, stop walking and listen.” Eve demanded. “One of these days, you’re gonna get yourself hurt.”  
“Or killed.” Faith suggested.  
“Or both. A-and, you know, with the pain and the death, maybe you shouldn't be leaping into the fray like that. M-maybe you should be... fray-adjacent.” Buffy suggested, running a hand through her hair. Xander seemed slightly... miffed.  
“Excuse me? Who, at a crucial moment, distracted the lead demon by allowing her to pummel him about the head?” He asked.  
“Yeah.” Faith agreed. “That was real manly how you shrieked and all.”  
“I think you’ll find that was more of a bellow.” Xander huffed.  
“Uh, what do we do with the trio here?” Buffy asked, changing the subject as fast as she  
could. “Should we burn them?” Willow smiled. “I brought marshmallows!”

Everyone stared at her inquisitively, and she stared right back with a certain dignity. “Occasionally I’m callous and strange.” She defended herself.  
“I expect we can leave them.” Giles decided. “I’m more interested in finding out what they are, and whether we can expect more of their kind.”  
“I hope not.” Buffy decided. “They’re way too fit.”  
“I say bring ‘em on!” Xander cheered. Eve followed the Slayers and Willow out, and Qrow followed her. The two briefly paused at the mouth of the cave, seeing Giles talk to Xander, before Eve sighed and pulled Qrow away.  
*  
“I don’t get it. I mean, yeah Xander can’t do much, but for a ‘all hands on deck, evil is coming and coming fast’ situation, do you think Giles could at least give him a bit of a break?” The pair were on the ground floor, a stark difference between their usual basement couch setting, mostly because Eve was using the basement for her next ‘de-rat Amy’ plan. The witch in question sighed and shook her head.  
“You’re right. You don’t get it yet.”  
“Get what?”  
She stood up, making her way to the decorative fireplace that caught dust in a corner of  
the living room. On it were two photos. One of a woman who looked to be about Giles’s age, with dark hair and lashes and pasty skin. The other one was a girl with caramel skin and a single thick brown ponytail falling down her back, two gold hoops in her ears.  
“Who are they?” Qrow asked, looking over her shoulder.  
“They’re Kendra and Miss Calendar. They were a part of our group once, the Scoobies, but they were... killed.” She shrugged. “Kendra was a slayer and Miss Calendar- Jenny, was a pretty powerful Wicca. But they both died. We’re afraid that Xander will follow down that path.” She admitted half-heartedly. “He’s just a guy who fell into this business accidentally. Even Willow, before she practiced magic, had more potential as a Wicca than anyone I have ever met. And now, with Jenny’s death...” She stopped herself.  
“So you’re afraid he’ll get hurt?”  
“We’re afraid he’ll get killed. And what’s worse, he doesn’t even seem to get why.”  
*  
The three men of the Scooby Gang sat around a lunch table, Oz splitting his meal to give  
to Qrow while Xander complained about something his ex-girlfriend said. Neither of them were listening, and it was obvious.  
“But... It's just that it's buggin' me, this 'cool' thing. I mean, what is it? How do you get it? Who doesn't have it? And who decides who doesn't have it? What is the essence of cool?” He asked. Qrow looked down at his lunch. He had forgotten to ask Oz what a ‘kraut-dog’ was.  
“Not sure.” Oz decided, reaching for one of Xander’s chips. Xander didn’t stop him. “I mean, you yourself, Oz, are considered more or less cool. Why is that?”  
“Am I?” Oz asked.  
“Is it about the talking? You know, the way you tend to express yourself in short,  
noncommittal phrases?” Oz seemed to consider this. “Could be.” Xander smiled.  
“I know! You're in a band! That's like a business-class ticket to cool with complementary mojo after takeoff! I gotta learn an instrument. Is it hard to play guitar?” Oz shook his head.

“Not the way I play it.”  
“Okay, but on the other hand: eighth grade. I'm taking the flügelhorn and gettin' zero trim. So the whole instrument thing could be a mislead.” He thought for a moment. “But you need a thing, one thing nobody else has. What do I have?”  
“An exciting new obsession?” Qrow offered, resting his cheek on his palm and picking at his food.  
“Which I feel makes you very special.” Oz added.  
“Now with the mocking. Which I can handle because I know I'm right about this. I'm on the track. I just need to find my thing.” His eyes showed signs of spacing off.  
“It seems like you’re overthinking it. I mean, you got some identity issues. It’s not the end of the world.”  
“Oh, speaking of identity issues, don’t you have a transformation tonight?” Xander asked. Oz nodded.  
“Oh, is this a werewolf thing?” Qrow asked. Oz nodded, and Qrow considered that a small victory.  
“Yeah. I need to be there by 5:30. Willow and Eve’ll be there. You coming to my monthly loss of humanity?” Xander shook his head.  
“No, I’ve got a lot of stuff to do.”  
“Giles says there’s a lot of researching to be done about this new species of demon.” “Sorry, no can do. Big project. Big project.” He repeated himself.  
“I think I’m going. Eve said something about ‘moral support for friends’ boyfriends’.”   
“No offense dude, Eve doesn’t want you alone in her house with her gun.”  
*  
Oz pushed the library doors open, with Willow, Eve, and Qrow on his tail. “Hey.” He  
greeted Giles and Buffy. “Hey.”  
Giles checked his watch. “Um, y-you’re cutting it a bit close.” Oz stepped into his cage. “Well, you know me.”  
He stripped out of his clothes, the privacy towels already in place. Buffy looked to  
continue her conversation with Giles.  
“Know why who’s here?” Eve asked.  
“The Sisterhood of Jhe. The new demons.” Buffy filled her in.  
“I think so.” He nervously looked around. “Based on some artifacts I-I found with them,  
and, um...” He reached for another book. “...taking into account the current astral cycle...” Buffy frowned.  
“Giles, I don’t need to see the math.” He nodded and put the book down, looking back at Buffy. A serious look was in his eyes.  
“They intend to open the Hellmouth.” Buffy looked up in surprise.  
“The Hellmouth.” She repeated. Eve frowned.  
“The one that opens...”  
“About twenty feet from where you’re standing.” Giles nodded. Qrow took a step back, and Eve followed suit.  
“Well... it’s a hell of a place to build a school.” Qrow offered.

Oz, now in full wolf form, jumped against the cage and rattled the metal, causing Willow to take a frightened step back. He growled, then craned his neck up and let out a shrill howl.  
*  
“And what exactly happens if the Hellmouth opens?” Willow asked, wrapping her arms around her and fearing for the answer. Qrow nodded along with the question. He had been wondering that himself.  
“Do you remember that demon that almost got out the night I died?” Qrow looked up so fast his neck almost snapped.  
“You what?” Willow nodded, shuddering.  
“Every nightmare I have that doesn't revolve around academic failure or public nudity is about that thing. In fact, once I dreamt that it attacked me while I was late for a test and naked.”  
“No, no, don’t change the subject here. You died?” Buffy looked up.  
“Only a little bit, for a few minutes. How do you think Faith showed up?” She asked. “And anyway, it'll be the first to come out, and Giles says it won't be the worst by a long shot. The world will be overrun with demons if we don't stop it.”  
“So you died and came back? How did that happen? Are... are you okay-?”  
“Do we know when this is supposed to happen?” Willow asked. It seemed as though they decided it would be easier to let someone else explain it to him. Buffy shrugged.  
“Giles is trying to narrow it down. I-If you’re up for it, we’re headed into deep research mode.” Willow smiled.  
“I’d be offended if you haven’t already counted me in.” Buffy smiled, and they both saw Eve waving to them from the school entrance, and they ran across the street to meet up with her.  
“Hey.” She greeted, brushing a stray curl from her face. Buffy opened her mouth to ‘hey’ back when they heard the sound of a horn. The four of them turned around.  
“You girls need a lift?” Xander pulled up in a giant light blue convertible with a shiny exterior, white rims, and wings. The radio was blaring. Eve let out a low whistle.  
“Chevrolet Bel Air, huh?” She asked. “What is this?”  
“What do you mean, what is it?” Xander gestured around himself. “It’s my _thing_.“

“Your _thing_?” Willow asked, seeming uncertain as to what he was talking about. Qrow  
thought back to the conversation they had with Oz the day before.  
“Oh, it’s your _thing_. ” He nodded. It was the thing that made him special. Eve frowned  
with more than a bit of uncertainty, and after a pause that was a bit too long, asked:  
“Is, uh... is this a penis metaphor?” Buffy’s eyes immediately widened.  
“Is it?”  
Xander let out a heavy sigh. “It's my thing that makes me cool. You know, that makes  
me unique.” He watched their blank stares. “I’m Car Guy.” He explained. “Guy with a car.” Willow nodded slightly, still obviously not understanding.  
“How can you afford it?” She asked. Xander grinned.  
“Uncle Roary stacked up the DUIs, let me rent this bad boy till he's mobile again.” He said with a hint of pride, turning off the radio. Buffy tried to smile.  
“Well, i-it’s nice.” She offered uncertainty.  
“Could you sound a little less enthused?” Xander asked, sighing. “Sorry.” Buffy looked away.

“Evil.” Willow added.  
“Big?” Xander asked.  
“Biggest. Maybe more than I can handle.” Buffy admitted.  
“Then we'll handle it together. You know I'm here for you. Just tell me what I can do.”

*

Oz slammed his body into the cage again, making Willow jump no matter how many  
times he did it. Books covered the tables and counters, many of them open to pictures of the demons they had slain before.  
“He’s cranky.” Willow sighed.  
“It’s a good night for it.” Buffy decided.  
“Can't dogs sense when there's an earthquake, a-a-and they bark? Or cows lie down or  
something?” She asked, looking back at Oz once more. Qrow came back from the shelves, an armload of books with him. Buffy took the first one off the stack.  
“'Sisterhood of Jhe. Race of female demons, fierce warriors...'” She paused for a moment to include an ‘ewww’. “'...celebrate victory in battle by eating their foes.' They couldn't just pour Gatorade on each other?” She asked, closing the book just as fast as she opened it. Giles entered the room carrying a hefty leather bag.  
“The Council won’t even take my calls. Idiots.” He spat out before looking at the girls and Qrow. “Anything useful in the books?”  
“Not wildly.” Buffy sighed.  
“We still have the Book of Pherion to go through.” Willow added. Giles just nodded. Buffy pushed the pile away from her, forcing Qrow to catch some that had fallen from the top to prevent them from hitting Willow.  
“I’m getting itchy feet, Giles. We don’t turn up something soon, I’m gonna hit the streets.” She declared, taking another tome from the stack. “Maybe check out Willy’s.”  
“Who’s Willy?” Qrow whispered to Willow. She felt bad enough about the ‘dead Buffy’ thing that she leaned over to respond.  
“A human who owns a demon bar. Knows all about the supernatural traffic in Sunnydale.”  
“Fine.” Giles decided, going to his office and taking his overcoat.  
“Where are you going?” Willow asked.  
“Um, to try and contact the Spirit Guides. They exist out of time, but have knowledge of  
the future.” He pulled on his coat. “I have no idea if they’ll respond to my efforts, but I have to try. All we know is that the fate of the entire world rests on it.” He looked at the donut box Xander had brought them earlier. “Did you eat all the jellies?” Buffy looked back at him innocently.  
“Did you want a jelly?” She asked, causing Giles’s frown to deepen.  
“I always have a jelly. I’m always the one that says ‘let’s have a jelly in the mix’.”  
“We’re sorry.” Willow said solemnly, then immediately looked up. “Buffy had three.” Qrow  
looked away. He had taken the last one.  
“No matter.” Giles grabbed his bag. Qrow nodded.  
“Yeah, if Xander makes another run...” Buffy’s head shot up.

“No.” Giles stopped his walk towards the door, startled. “Xander's out of this. He nearly got killed last time we fought. This whole thing will be easier if we know he's safe.” Giles sighed, but nodded in agreement and turned to Qrow.  
“Qrow, are you in the mood to infuriate some Spirits?”  
*  
Cast-iron letters marked the place as ‘Restfield Cemetery’. The grass was overgrown,  
and Qrow couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous. In the month and a half since he had woken up on the street, he had visited a cemetery seven times for lessons in demon hunting, and each time it seemed to be a different one. The golden cross Eve had given him glinted at his neck, a precautionary measure. The giant sword at his side served as one as well.  
A bright cloud surrounded Giles as he chanted, and Qrow decided it was in his best interests to stay back and watch the show.  
“Noli me renuere, umbra ducens. Sapienta manium super me effundatur.” He began in a language that Qrow understood precisely none of. The Spirit Guides, at least that’s what Qrow thought they must be, answered back in the same language.  
“Illae res occultae sunt tempoti et locis obscuris. Enuntiare illas Chaos super orbem vivum terrarum ferat.” Whatever they were saying, Giles didn’t seem happy with it.  
“Belua propulsanda est! Invenire vitium suum noster spes sola est!” Giles insisted. A strong wind began to suddenly blow, and Qrow had to adjust his stance to not tumble.  
“Noli petere! Perturba nos non diutius!” Was all the cloud said, before the wind suddenly cut out and the mass of spirits vanished.  
Giles definitely didn’t seem happy, and Qrow immediately perked up at the sound of footsteps, preparing to stab. He almost stabbed Xander.  
“Giles, Qrow, hey.” Xander smiled. “What’s goin’ on?” He asked. Behind him waited his new ride, complete with a few other teens Qrow couldn’t see very well in the dark.  
“Oh, uh...” Giles looked back at where the otherworldly encounter had happened. “I was just trying to, uh, gain access to the, um, Spirit Guides. Not going very well, I'm afraid.”  
“I’m here to make sure he didn’t get killed.” Qrow admitted. “What about you?” Giles opened his mouth to retort, but Xander spoke first.  
“Oh, we were just raising some...” He looked back at the boys in his car. “...heck.” “Xander, let’s go!” One of them called. Qrow raised an eyebrow.  
“Right. Some heck.” Xander kneeled down by Giles, who was busy packing up his tools. “Listen, do you guys need any help?” Giles shook his head, obviously not paying  
attention.  
“Hmm? Oh, no. Thank you. Uh, probably best if you, you stay out of trouble.” Giles  
decided. Xander almost scoffed.  
“No chance of that.” He winced at the sound of his horn.  
“Xander! Motor!” The kid called again.  
“Friends of yours?” Qrow asked, but didn’t get a response. Giles stood up.  
“There's something... different about this... menace, something in the air... The stench of  
death.” The librarian tried to explain. Xander nodded. “Yeah, I think it’s Bob.”  
Qrow decided he was better off not asking.

“We may all be called upon to fight when it happens.” Giles tried to explain, motioning for Qrow to follow him as he started waking. Xander took a tentative step after them.  
“When what happens, exactly?” He called after them. Giles looked behind him, just as Xander’s horn was honked again.  
“Come on!” Giles smiled weakly.  
“We better go.” He decided. “Um, hopefully, we shall have time to prepare. All we need is a few weeks.” Qrow looked at the librarian doubtfully. If there was one thing he had always assumed about the portal to hell under their feet, it was that it didn;t like waiting.  
*  
“Thank you!”  
“And sorry about waking you up!” Two girls called, walking away from the corner store  
labeled as ‘The Magic Box’. The middle-aged woman who ran it flicked her cigarette away and waved back to them.  
“No problem!” She called back before heading back inside. The darker-skinned witch of the two looked into the paper bag she held.  
“That was nice of her to let us use that coupon for wolfsbane even though it was out of date and almost midnight.” She decided. The other one nodded.  
“And here I was all worried we would feel angry and upset over something that was our fault and take it out on the poor owner-lady!” She joked. Eve laughed to herself.  
“Willow, I can’t imagine you taking anything out on anybody.”  
“Hey, I’m cool! I'm a badass when the time comes! Hell, if one of those ‘Sisterhood of Jhe members showed up right now, I’d show her where to-”  
“Will!” Willow almost jumped out of her skin as she whipped her head around to see Xander getting out of his new car and running up to the pair.  
“Xander, it’s almost midnight. Shouldn’t you be in bed or something?” Eve asked. “Yeah, Xander, what are you doing here?” Willow looked around nervously.  
“Nothing. Certainly not crime.” Eve raised an eyebrow, but Xander cut her off before she  
got a chance to speak. “Wh-what about you?” Willow immediately looked nervous.  
“I-I needed supplies for a protection spell. Buffy called from Angel's. I-it's happening  
tonight.” Eve groaned. So much for not telling Xander.  
“And that thing that's happening would be...?” He asked. Willow realized her mistake. “I-I can’t say. Buffy’ll need this.” She nodded at the bag in Eve’s hands. Xander frowned,  
but nodded. Willow sighed and pulled him in for a quick hug.  
“I love you, Xander.” She mumbled, then headed off down the street. Eve looked back at  
the man, nodded slightly at him, then ran after her friend. *  
The group had reconvened in the library. Oz seemed to be doing much worse, thrashing and throwing himself around, going as far as to bend the steel holding the cage together in a desperate attempt to escape.  
“I’ve never seen him like this before...” Willow muttered, torn between taking a step forward and taking a step back.  
“It must be the Hellmouth. He can sense it’s going to open.” Eve over to Giles, who nodded as he prepared a dart gun.

“Be ready just in case.” He handed the weapon to Willow as Eve picked up her bag and took out a match. She lit it, snuffed it, and drew a circle on the ground with the ash, muttering to herself. A containment spell.  
“Pass me the mandrake-” A crash was heard as the door flew off its hinges. Oz dove straight at her.  
“Don’t hesitate!” Eve heard Giles yell as she was tackled to the ground, sharp claws ripping through her shirt and leaving small puncture wounds in her skin where he had latched on. She heard a shot and a whimper, before someone helped her push Oz away. Qrow pulled her up. Oz was still on all fours.  
“Again!” Giles shouted. Willow took another step back as she loaded another dart into the gun. Oz lunged towards her, growling and weak, jumping over the table between them. Giles wrapped his arms around the poor wolf boy’s waist, pulling him back down.  
“Any time now!” He shouted, before being tossed away. Just as Oz looked back to Willow, preparing to lunge her again, she shot him a final time in the chest. He fell to the ground. Willow knelt by him, smoothing the hair on his head and giving a wry smile, before looking to the others. Eve was holding her left side.  
“Just a scratch.” She said before anyone had the chance to ask.  
“We’ve got to move him before he wakes up.” Giles declared, nodding to Qrow. The teen just sighed before hoisting Oz up. He looked like a toothpick during the day, the whole ‘wolf’ thing must’ve caused him to gain a few extra pounds.  
“Sorry. I hope you’re not mad at me in the morning.” Willow said remorsefully before following him out.  
*  
“Terra, vente, ignis et pluvia. Cuncta quattuor numina, vos obsecro. Defendete nos a recente malo resoluto.” Eve muttered, reading out of a book while looking down on the lit candles spread out along the table.  
Willow and Qrow returned to the library. Willow dropped the tranquilizer gun down on the counter as she passed by.  
“Oz is moved.” Qrow reported to Giles.  
“He could barely walk after that mickey I gave him, but we made it. Is he gonna be alright there?” Willow asked, looking back at the weapon with uneasy eyes.  
“Anywhere is safer than here.” Giles decided, tossing her a lighter. “Here, help me with these candles.” Willow caught the lighter and looked down at it.  
“We’re doing the binding spell from the Hebron’s Almanac?” She asked, looking at the book Eve had been struggling to read out of. Eve nodded.  
“Yeah, and I wish we weren’t. My latin isn’t good enough for this.” She admitted, rubbing her eyes.  
“Once it’s ready, you’re going to stay back and let me finish the recitation.” Willow opened her mouth to protest, but Giles cut her off. “Don’t argue. I want you safe. Who knows what’s going to come up from beneath us.” He said the last part more to himself, striking a match.  
*  
The Hellmouth was open. Before it stood Buffy and Faith, followed by some edgy-looking man who Qrow had never seen before, with Giles at his side. The witches were in the back, with

Qrow making sure nothing from the creature that stood between them and the opening hit the two.  
And speaking of the creature, it was a hulking tentacle-laden monster that stood tall enough to almost hit the library ceiling. Willow held a sword tight in her grip, as Eve tore through the book in her hands, trying to find something to help them.  
“Oh God.” Giles muttered. “It’s grown.”  
*  
The library doors flew open, with Buffy crashing out of them. She looked battered and  
bruised, possibly from having crashed through a set of solid wood doors.  
“Faith!” She screamed. “Go for the heart!”  
*  
Qrow ducked under the claws of one of the Sisterhood, trying his damndest to keep the  
demons away from Eve as she struggled through a translation of something he could only assume was a spell.  
“Omnia... vasa... veritatis?” She paused at that last one. “Veritatis?” She said again, narrowing her eyes. “That doesn’t sound right.”  
“It’s Latin, it’s not supposed to sound right!” GIles shouted back, briefly looking away from the tentacle he was fending off. Eve shrugged and kept reading.  
“Now Buffy!” Angel, the creepy bad boy who looked too old for highschool, shouted. The Slayer nodded and jumped from the library’s second floor, battle axe in hand.  
*  
Five kids and one librarian sat around a picnic table. Two witches, a werewolf, a kid with a big sword, an ex-Watcher, and a Slayer. Willow shuddered to herself, leaning back.  
“Even after the Hellmouth was closed, you could still hear it screaming.” She stated, only picking at her food. Buffy’s right arm was in a sling, and Giles had a bandage covering his cheek. Eve clutched her side where werewolf claws had embedded into her skin, and Qrow had a nasty red inflammation from when the tentacle-monster thing had picked up and grabbed him. Turns out the slime covering them doubled as an acid attack. Battle scars, each of them, though well-deserved. Oz nodded to himself.  
“I heard Angel was knocked out. Is he gonna be okay?” Buffy just nodded.  
“He was only out for a few minutes. Longest of my life.” She admitted. Willow shook her head.  
“I will never forget that thing’s face. Its real face, I mean.” Giles responded with a half-hearted and thoroughly British ‘yes’.  
“I don’t know how you guys managed.” Buffy leaned back. “That was some of the bravest stuff I’ve ever seen.”  
“Stupidest.” Giles amended. He turned his head just slightly, and Qrow could see the bandages went all the way down his face to his neck. “But the world continues to turn.”  
“But nobody else will know how close it came to stopping.” Qrow muttered. “Nobody will know what you did. Doesn’t seem right.” He admitted. Willow smiled slightly.  
“What we did.” She countered. “You included.”  
“Congrats on surviving your first apocalypse.” Buffy said with a nod. “Even if it was just a beginner one.”  
“Baby steps.” Eve said with a nod. Qrow blinked.

“A beginner apocalypse?” He asked, seeming uncertain. Eve just nodded with a lazy grin. “I’m beginning to regret my decision to stay with you people.”  
“Oh, don’t worry. We’ll get you in a real apocalypse soon enough.” Qrow nodded. “Can’t wait.”


	4. Consequences

“So a new Watcher, huh?” The tv talked on in the background of the Winchester home as three teens talked. Willow, who had been chilling on the couch with a large rat in her hands, nodded.  
“Yup. Mr. Wesley Wyndam-Pryce.” Willow said, doing her best to intimidate his accent as she stroked her rat-friend. Qrow made a face.  
“Are they all stuck-up and British?” He asked. A tray of cookies was slammed down on the coffee table that sat between the two and Eve pulled off her oven mitts.  
“Pretty much.” She declared. “Which is why I have decided that there are enough insufferable Brits in my life, so I will be doing my damndest to not meet him.” Willow reached for a cookie, but pulled away the moment her fingers grazed the pan. She winced and stuck the tip of her finger in her mouth.  
“Ow. Hot.” She mumbled. Eve smiled slightly, taking hold of the talisman around her neck.  
“Frigus.” She muttered, then picked up a cookie. She didn’t so much as lightly toast herself. Willow grabbed another cookie and broke it open, feeling the inside.  
“Still pleasantly warm.” She said with a smile, before popping it in her mouth. “This is really good!”  
“Qrow helped.” Eve said with a nod, tossing the man in question a cookie.  
“I cut the frozen cookie dough into quarter-inch slices.” He said, leaning back. Willow nodded.  
“...Nestle or Pillsbury?” She asked, reaching for another one as Eve unmuted the TV.  
“Pillsbury, they take less time to bake. Now look at this.” She pointed at the screen. Blurry footage of a shadowy, human-like figure being pulled from a lake was shown over and over as the scrolling text at the bottom blared out the headline.  
“Deputy Mayor Allen Finch found stabbed?” Willow asked. “I remember him! He came to our middle school and taught us about saying no to drugs and stuff... I can’t believe he’s dead...” She looked away.  
“Looks like someone tried to sink his body.” Qrow pointed out. Eve groaned.  
“We’re gonna be busy tomorrow...”  
*  
“Westley Wyndam-Pryce.” The man extended his hand, an undeniably snively British  
accent echoing through the library. A young woman took it.  
“I like a man with two last names. I’m Cordelia.” She smiled as Giles cleared his throat  
and handed her the book she had asked for.  
“Freud and Jung. So you teach psychology?” He asked, reading the title and acting like  
he’d read it before. The doors to the library swung open.  
“She takes psychology. I need the same book. Giles, if you would.” A young black  
woman with thick curls and dark lashes stood in the doorway, a leather jacket draped over her shoulders. A man with thinner black hair in women’s jeans stood besides her. Giles smiled back at her, nodding. A small thanks for helping him with a point that needed making.  
“She’s a student.” The teen behind the new girl stated, suddenly ‘getting’ the unsettling vibe in the room. The man immediately dropped Cordelia’s hand. Eve blinked.  
  
“Oh god. New Watcher?” She asked, ignoring the man and turning to the Slayers. He fumed.  
“Is there anyone who doesn’t know?” Cordelia cleared her throat and he looked back to her. “And, well... yes. In fact, I am... here, uh, to watch... girls.” He stated, suddenly realizing how weird that sounded. “Uh... uh, Buffy and Faith, to be specific.” Cordelia smiled brightly.  
“Well, it’s about time we got some fresh blood around here.” She stated, taking a small step closer. Eve raised an eyebrow.  
“I wouldn’t exactly call him ‘fresh blood’. More... a vintage 1960-something.” She stated. Westley sputtered, but didn’t have time to get a word out. The hard thump of a library stamp pulled him out of his anger. Giles passed the books to each of the girls.  
“Here we go.”  
“Thanks!” Cordelia said with a smile. “So...” She turned back to the Watcher. “Welcome to Sunnydale.” She said before pushing past Eve and Qrow and leaving the library, making sure to sway her hips just enough as she did. Westley admired her back, before looking away and acting like he wasn’t staring.  
“My. She is cheeky, isn’t she?” He asked. Eve snorted. Qrow gagged.  
“My god I’ll never get that image out of my head.” He stated. Eve chuckled nervously. “Uh, first word: jail; second word: bait.” She stated. The man awkwardly tabbed at his  
mouth with a handkerchief.  
“Well, uh... where were we?” He asked. Eve nodded.  
“Ah, right. We were just leaving.” She grabbed Qrow by the sleeve, who nodded to her  
and followed her lead.  
“Wait, now, I was hoping to get to talk to you, Ms Whinchester. We’ve been very curious  
to see what a future Maiden-Bearer has done to prepare for the role.” She bronze, blinked, and looked back at him.  
“Try and become my ‘Watcher’ and I will show you exactly what I can do.” She hissed, then yanked Qrow’s arm and left the library.  
*  
“So, uh, you want to talk?” Qrow had abruptly paused the television right in the middle of her showing him the first season of Star Trek. Eve had been more excitable and aggressive than normal that day, ever since meeting the new Watcher.  
“Not really. I’d much rather keep watching.” She decided after a moment, then lunged for the remote. This didn’t exactly work, on account of her being only 5’3. “...fine. Talk about what?”  
“You threatened to throw that Westley guy out a window.”  
“I did not-”  
“It was implied. You’re good at that.” Qrow stated, propping his feet up on the coffee  
table. “Why?”  
Eve silently cursed. Since when did he get that good at doing the ‘emotions’ thing?  
“You can’t tell Willow. Or Buffy, or Xander, or anyone else, but definitely not Willow.” She  
decided. “Deal.”  
And thus, the explanation began. *  
  
“There are an infinite number of dimensions, though most of them go on with absolutely no connection to any other one. There’s just no reason for them to interact. But the dimension we are in right now is very closely connected to a different one, through the Hellmouth.  
“The Hellmouth is like a bridge between our dimensions. We balance it, keep the evil contained. We know that their Hellmouth hasn’t opened just because demons are still trapped inside and not roaming free in the other world. But outside of that, we know basically nothing.  
“According to fragmented legends covens around the world have collected over the years, this other dimension, in order to fight the evil in their land, bestowed powers to four young women. They were called the Four Maidens, based on the four seasons. Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn. Or Fall, if you don't want to be British and stuff about it.  
“But there was a problem. The Four Maidens together had too much power, and threatened to sever their connection with the Hellmouth, which would’ve plunged this world into darkness with it. In order to even the balance and stop the maidens from becoming essentially all-powerful, our universe adapted.  
“Our universe took the four souls of the Maidens and connected them to the souls of the four most powerful witches it had, as a way to keep them mortal. The witches became the Maiden Bearers, their souls eternally stuck with some elemental-powers-having basically-god in this other world. A witch’s Maiden dies, the witch dies. A Maiden’s Maiden-Bearer dies, and they’re dead too.  
“If the current Bearer has a daughter, the daughter’s soul becomes bonded with the new Maiden’s soul the moment the old Bearer and Maiden die. If they don’t, the soul-bonding goes to the most powerful witch in the vicinity. My mom and I are a part of the original Fall Maiden-Bearer bloodline. When she dies, I’ll gain magic power.”  
“But your mom will be dead.”  
“Yeah. I know. But there’s no way of really stopping it. You can’t seaver connected souls.”  
Qrow nodded somewhat, seeming to only somewhat grasp the concept, but deciding that just going with it would probably be better.  
“Why haven’t you told the others?”  
“It’s... complicated. I hang out with the Scoobies a lot, yeah, but I’m not particularly good friends with any of them but Willow. At least not good enough friends that I’ll go off explaining how this mess of an interdimensional system works.”  
“You explained it to me.”  
“Yeah, well... you’re the first person to question me on it. And besides, you heard that whole speech, right? I needed to get it off my chest.”  
“Ow.” Qrow put a sarcastic hand to his heart.  
“No offense or anything.”  
“None taken. But why doesn’t Willow know? She seems like she’d be all over this.” Eve  
sighed and made her way to the fake fireplace mantel, picking up her picture of Jenny Calendar. “Miss Calendar was the Spring Maiden Bearer. But she died. She didn’t have a  
daughter, so the power went to the most powerful witch it could find.”  
“Amy?” Eve blinked, then shook her head.  
“No. Amy is... was... whatever- she’s powerful, yeah, but Willow has more potential than  
every other witch I’ve ever met combined. Willow is the Spring Maiden Bearer, and she doesn’t  
  
even know it.” Qrow nodded in silent understanding as Eve thought to herself. “Also I’m fairly certain Amy’s the Summer Maiden Bearer, but now I can’t prove it. Since she’s a rat and all.” Qrow glanced at Amy’s cage behind them.  
“...so three out of the four potentially most powerful witches are in Sunnydale, one of which is a rat and one of which hasn’t actually gotten to unlock her power yet-” he reached to mess with her hair, but she swatted his hand away- “all of which you’ve known for who knows how long and are keeping secret because of your own trust issues and unwillingness to put your friends in harm’s way.”  
Eve nodded.  
“Yeah, pretty much.”  
“...no wonder you’re so stressed all the time.”  
“Oh you have no idea.”  
*  
“A-And now she says she’s too busy slaying with Faith to spend time with me!”  
“I’m sure those weren’t her exact words-”  
“They were! She said she was going out with Faith tonight! She doesn’t even patrol on  
Wednesdays...” Willow muttered, picking up Amy. Michael watched while searching through one of Eve’s books.  
“Buffy will probably come around.” He decided. “I mean, she always does and whatever.”  
“Yeah, see Willow? Michael’s on my side! She always does! And whatever!” Eve said with a nod, rubbing Willow’s back. “Qrow, any help?” Qrow looked up from his sword.  
“Well don’t look at me. My entire job here is to hand you books.”  
“...god you suck at this. Pass me Yogsathoth Volume 4, 1967 edition. Please.”  
*  
A light tapping could be heard on the back door of the Whinchester residence. The three  
witches, one rat, and one teen with a rather large sword were all solidly asleep on the floor. Well... almost. The tapping came again, and one of them sat up. She made her way to the back door and opened it as quietly as she could, moving to sit on the back porch with the Slayer that had just come a-knocking.  
Another figure rose from the pile, slipping across the sleepers whose numbers had been depleted to two witches and a rat. The sneaker almost stepped on Michael’s hand as he cracked the back door open.  
“I mean, don't get me wrong. I-I completely understand why you and Faith have been doing the bonding thing. You guys work together. You... You should get along.” Qrow recognized the voice of Willow, and just moments later, the voice of Buffy.  
“It’s more complicated than that.” The Slayer stated.  
“But, see, it's that exact thing that-that's just ticking me off! It's this whole 'Slayers only' attitude.Imean,sincewhenwouldn'tIunderstand?You,youtalktomeabouteverything. I-it's like all of a sudden I-I'm not cool enough for you because I can't kill things with my bare hands.” Willow declared, crossing her arms. It was clear that the rant had been in her for a while. Whatever effect she had been expecting, it wasn’t Buffy bursting into tears. Qrow frowned, but felt something warm wrap around his hand. He turned around swinging.  
Eve narrowly dodged his fist, pressing a hand over his mouth and the two froze, making sure Buffy and Willow hadn’t heard them, before Eve carefully drew her hand away from his  
  
mouth just before he planned on trying to bite it. She sighed, carefully shutting the door so that no sound escaped.  
“Come on. Whatever is happening out there is between them and them alone.” She decided, before giving a small, exhausted smile. “Come on, let’s get you a blanket for that couch.  
*  
“Well maybe we should all try and talk to Faith together.” Willow suggested. The Scoobies (Qrow had accepted he was now a part of the group and not getting out of it) were all gathered around a table in the cafeteria. It was after school, and eerily silent. They had all been debriefed on what Buffy and more importantly Faith had gone through. The mood was less than cheery.  
“You mean like that intervention thing you guys did on me?” Buffy asked. Qrow knew it wasn’t worth asking. “As I recall, Xander and I nearly came to blows.” Xander cleared his throat.  
“Uh, you nearly came to blows, Buffy. I nearly came to loss of limbs.” Giles shook his head.  
“No, Faith is too defensive for a confrontation like that. She'll respond better to a one-on-one approach.” He decided. Xander looked up again.  
“Well... I can be the one... on her one.” He suggested. He didn’t get much beyond confused looks. “...let me rephrase. We kind of have... um... a connection.” He tried to explain. Eve raised an eyebrow, something suddenly clicking in her mind as Buffy spoke up.  
“A connection? Why would you think that...?” She asked.  
“I’m just saying it’s worth a shot, that’s all.” Giles shook his head.  
“No, I don't, I don't see it, Xander. I mean, of... of all of us, you're the one person  
arguably that Faith has had the least contact with.” He wiped down his glasses as he tried to explain. Xander frowned.  
“Yeah, but we hung out a little... recently, and she seemed to be, um... responsive.” He began. Willow’s head suddenly shot up before turning away. She got it.  
“When did you guys hang out?” Buffy asked, crossing her arms.  
“Oh, she was fighting one of those, uh, apocalypse demon things, and I helped her. Gave her a ride home.” He said, finally deciding on a story that wasn’t technically a lie, but definitely not the whole truth.  
“And you guys talked?” Buffy asked. Eve rubbed her forehead and Qrow looked between her, Willow, and Zander.  
“Oh. Oh. Ow-!” Eve shoved her elbow into her ribs to shut him up. It was harder than her usual punch. She was angry, though clearly not at him. Xander just shook his head.  
“Not extensively, no.” He tried to explain.  
“Then why would you...?” Buffy’s eyes widened. “Oh.” She muttered. Giles sat up in shock.  
“Oh!” He almost shouted. They both looked at Willow, who looked right back. “I-I don’t need to say ‘oh’. I got it before. They slept together.”  
A long silence followed.  
“Fine.” Giles said. “Fine.” He repeated. “Let’s... let’s move on.”  
“Alright. Look, I-I know that you mean well, Xander, but, um, I-I just don't see Faith opening up to you.” Buffy began, obviously trying (and even more obviously failing) to be gentle.  
  
“She doesn't take the guys that she has a... 'connection' with very seriously. And they're, they're kind of a big joke to her. No offense.” Xander snapped back, sarcasm in his voice.  
“Oh, no! I mean, why would I be offended by that? ”  
“However, i-if you still want to be of assistance, I-I-I need some help with research. There's still the business of the Mayor and Mr. Trick to attend to.” Giles decided. Eve sighed, as if to lighten the mood.  
“And I was betting on it being Snyder, too...” She mumbled, looking over at Willow, but she didn’t so much as twitch. She was lost in space.  
“Well they... they seemed pretty cozy the other night.” Buffy responded to Giles.  
“Willow, can you access the Mayor’s records?” He asked. Willow looked up from her haze.  
“What? Oh, sure. I can try.”  
“Good.” Giles nodded. “It’s clearly time we took a harder look at him. He’s clearly up to something.”  
“What about Faith?” Buffy asked.  
“I don’t know. Give me a little time-”  
“She needs help. Now.” Buffy looked down. “I owe her that, at least.”  
*  
On the floor of the women’s restroom of Sunnydale High, Willow sat, crying  
uncontrollably. Eve held her in her arms, unable to say anything to comfort her.   
*  
The group reconveined in the library, with two noticeable changes. Angel was there, looking broody as ever, and Xander’s neck was covered in dark, blooming bruises.  
“The new Watcher. He had a couple of guys helping him.” The vamp explained, relaying the events that lead to the arrest of Faith.  
“Then he figured it out.” Willow stated. “The murder-”  
“Which means that Faith will be on her way back to England to face the Watchers.” Eve stated, shuddering.  
“And then what?”  
“Most likely?” Giles sighed. “They’ll lock her up for a good long while.”  
“So... we head them off at the airport.” Buffy stated. “Stop them from taking her.” Willow  
looked up at that.  
“Can I... I’m just wondering... why?” She asked. Everyone looked at her. “I’m not the  
most objective, I know. I kinda have an issue with Faith sharing my... people.” She cleared her throat. “But... she murdered someone and accused Buffy. Then she hurt Xander. I hate to say it, but maybe she belongs behind bars.” Xander tried to say something, but his voice was completely shot. He looked away, embarrassed and angry.  
“She’s out of control, I know-” Buffy began, but Eve cut her off.  
“Yeah, yeah she is. So we need to get her out of Sunnydale.” Buffy glared.  
“But Angel was getting somewhere with her. She was opening up.”  
“So you’re putting the fate of an insane, super-powered killer in the hands of our own?” “Angel is not insane!” Buffy shouted.  
“He is whenever you two decide to get it on.” Eve shot back.  
“He has a soul!”  
  
“He killed Miss Calendar! Something that you people never fail to forget!” Giles sat up, scowling.  
“That is enough-!”  
A sharp sound echoed throughout the room as Buffy lifted her hand and slapped Eve right across the cheek. Everything was deathly silent. Eve took a step back, before looking up, furious. But something was different. Her eyes weren't deep brown. Instead, they almost seemed to leak a bright amber color. The cross around her neck glowed an angry molten red.  
Eve raised her hand and Buffy was blown back, crashing through bookshelves. Qrow grabbed her shoulder, and her eyes returned to normal as she was dragged out. She seemed confused and exhausted.  
“We’re leaving. Good luck on whatever the hell this is.” He decided, closing the door to the library behind them.  
*  
Eve sat curled up on her bed as tears leaked from her eyes. Her palm clung desperately to her talisman. “Something’s wrong, Qrow... something’s wrong.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I skipped the episode ‘Bad Girls’ because it had basically nothing to do with Qrow, Eve, or Willow. If you have any questions about the Maiden Bearers system (I don’t think I explained it well, so it wouldn’t surprise me), feel free to comment! I’ll explain it then.

**Author's Note:**

> Why hello everyone! Welcome to the fic that nobody asked for and nobody wanted. This should be fun. Most chapters won’t be as long as this one, and I won’t cover the episodes that don’t involve the supporting cast as much or I just didn’t like (read: any and all of the Buffy Romance episodes), but every other one will be in here. Thanks for reading!<3


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